Nigel Farage has declared he has handed over Reform UK to its 200,000 members, but the party now appears to be owned by a not-for-profit company controlled by its leader and chair.
Farage announced last year that he would “democratise” the party after receiving criticism for it being a private company majority controlled by the leader, not a members’ association like other parties.
The company that owns Reform now appears to be owned by a new not-for-profit company, Reform 2025, which so far has just two members and two directors: Farage and Zia Yusuf.
It was previously owned by a limited company majority controlled by Farage but with stakes also held by Yusuf, Richard Tice, the deputy leader, and Mehrtash A’zami, the party secretary.
It is understood this is the permanent new structure of Reform and that Farage and Yusuf are guarantors for the company, and would be replaced if new people took on those roles. The party’s filings to Companies House says there is no person in overall control.
According to Companies House, guarantors are company members, control the company and make important decisions, and do not usually take profit from the company – instead the money is kept within the company or used for other purposes.
Bringing in a new constitution, the party declared that its 200,000 members were now in control.
Yusuf, the chair, said: “We are pleased to announce that, as promised, Nigel Farage has handed over ownership of Reform UK to its members. Reform UK is now a non-profit, with no shareholders, limited by guarantee. We are assembling the governing board, in line with the constitution.
“This was an important step in professionalising the party. We will soon have more exciting announcements about Reform UK as we prepare for government.”
Reform’s new 17-page constitution, submitted to the Electoral Commission, details how the party leader will serve for a fixed five-year term, and that members can remove the party leader through a vote of no confidence.
Nevertheless, the requirements for removing a leader are difficult to achieve, with half of all members needing to write to the chair requesting a vote of no confidence. An alternative would be if half of its MPs wrote requesting a vote of no confidence, but this rule only applies if the party has at least 100 MPs. It has five, of whom one is Farage.
Farage also has a large degree of control over the board, as the leader is able to choose three people to sit on it, plus the party chair; while another three are chosen by the party members.
Ben Habib, the former deputy leader of Reform, who quit over concerns about a lack of democracy for members, said: “The constitution does not in my view give the ability for members to remove the leadership. Even when they have ownership of the party by the members, the constitution is still suboptimal – to put it mildly.”
