Nigel Farage ‘hands ownership of Reform UK to members’, says party
Nigel Farage has “handed over ownership of Reform UK to its members”, the party has said.
The Clacton MP previously said that he was “relinquishing” control of the company as he pledged to “change the structure” and give members ownership of the organisation.
It comes as Farage responded to US President Donald Trump’s remarks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being a dictator.
He said: “Let’s be clear, Zelensky is not a dictator, but it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections… there needs to be a timeline so that the Ukrainian people can vote on a peace deal.”
Changes have been posted on Companies House that show Reform 2025 Ltd has been established, and now controls the shares in the party.
Party chairman Zia Yusuf posted on X on Thursday: “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.”
Farage and party deputy Richard Tice had previously been listed as persons with significant control of the company Reform Party UK Ltd.
Records filed with Companies House show that Farage, Tice and former party treasurer Mehrtash Azami no longer have any shares in Reform Party UK Ltd.
Instead, a new limited company, Reform 2025 Ltd is listed as being in “significant control” of it, holding all 15 shares.
Reform 2025 Ltd has two directors, according to Companies House – Farage and Yusuf. Its address is listed as the party’s offices at 124 City Road, east London. It says there will be “no persons with significant control”.
Farage had first made the promise to relinquish control in September when he said “I no longer need to control this party”.
In a video posted on X, he said: “We will change the structure of the party from one limited by shares to a company limited by guarantee, and that means it’s the members of Reform that will own this party.
“I am relinquishing control of the company, and indeed of the overall control of the party, it’s now going to be the members, and that, I think, is the right thing, and it’s the right thing because this conference marks the coming of age of Reform UK, and that’s something that I’m very, very excited about.”
According to Reform UK’s constitution, the party leader can be removed if 50 per cent of MPs wrote to the chairman to request a vote of no confidence – but only if Reform has more than 100 MPs, and the board vote to approve the motion.
Or 50 per cent of party members can also write to the chairman to request a motion of no confidence, but these letters are only valid for 60 days from the date of receipt.
But Ben Habib, former Reform deputy leader, who quit over concerns about a lack of democracy for members, told the Guardian: “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.”
However, Farage insisted to GB News: “Ultimately, if they don’t like what I’m doing, they now have means of removing me.
“Getting the balance right is very, very important. We want this to be a very professional political party. I think these are all the right steps.”