REFORM’S “DIRTY SECRET”: WHO CARES?
As Reform UK launches its manifesto, some folk seem weirdly obsessed by a technicality.
Nigel Farage’s decision to present his general election pledges as a “contract with the people” rather than a traditional manifesto has fuelled some bizarre conspiracy theories linked to the party’s status as a “Limited Company.” Demonstrating extraordinary naiveté about the grim financial realities associated with launching and growing a new political movement, some critics seem to imagine that the “shareholders” – that’s Farage and the party’s Chairman Richard Tice – secretly stand to make big money from the whole operation.
The rush of new members signing up – 14,000 within just one week – each paying £25 a year – has sent some swivel-eyed lefties into a frenzy. Social media is replete with silly suggestions that Farage, who is named on company records as the “person with significant control”, and Tice, who owns a chunk of shares, are pocketing some of this cash. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are the facts: neither man takes any money whatsoever from Reform UK. Indeed is a matter of public record that Tice has done the precise opposite, loaning the party more than £1m from his own pocket. As for Farage, his own woes with Coutts and NatWest as a result of being a so-called Politically Exposed Person (PEP) are well documented. Tice has also spoken publicly about the difficulties his political activity has presented for his businesses, thanks to the strange reticence of financial institutions to lend to prominent figures on the Right. The idea that the pair are doing any of this to line their own pockets is frankly ludicrous.
Those who raise eyebrows at Reform UK’s official status as a limited company seem to think that this technicality somehow means it is not a “proper” political party.
This too is nonsense.
By law, political parties cannot be charities. Of course, there are alternatives to Ltds. Some political parties are Membership Associations or Trusts. Even so, all will have trading companies to protect personal liability, typically as subsidiaries to the main entity. In any case, Reform UK is officially “not for profit”. While it has a handful of paid employees (as a start up, far fewer than Labour, Tories or LibDems) senior political figures give their time for nothing.
There is a separate even more beltway argument about whether Reform UK’s structure disempowers members by concentrating power in the hands of the leadership. It is true that as party leader, Farage now nominally controls everything, from party policy to personnel. He is not answerable to anyone, nor beholden to any Executive body. There’s a good reason for this: he wants to be able to make decisions fast. All party members were encouraged to contribute to the drafting of the “contract with the people”, but neither Farage nor Tice (who led on the manifesto) want to be fettered by endless meetings about meetings. Nor do they want the distraction of power struggles.
Some say this makes Reform UK “anti democratic.” It is true that the Labour party’s complex structure spreads power between the party leadership; National Executive Committee; Constituency Labour Parties and MPs. Then again, Reform UK is not 120 years old, like Labour: it’s a start-up in a hurry. Meanwhile the concentration of power at the top of Reform UK is not so different from the reality in the Tory party, which gives precious few “rights” to members. Their one big chance to exercise power comes during leadership contests. Theoretically, members have the final say over who leads the party – but only after MPs whittle down the choice to two contenders. Even then, as the coronation of Rishi Sunak following the resignation of Liz Truss (who had only just been chosen ahead of Sunak by party members) shows, that so-called “power” can vanish in instant.
The real question about the focus on Reform’s status as a limited company is whether anyone out there cares? Find me a voter who voluntarily raises this total non-issue on the doorstep, and I’ll buy you lunch.
This idea its being used as a cash-cow is all over social media but a 5 min check on Companies House makes the position clear but no one repeating the claim has the 5 mins to check by the look of it. Lunch sounds good lol