Not-for-profit appears to own Reform UK despite Farage’s ‘democratisation’ pledge

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 it came in for criticism that it was a private company majority controlled by the leader, not a members’ association like other parties.

But 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 Richard Tice, the deputy leader; Mehrtash A’zami, the party secretary; and Yusuf.

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It is understood that 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 take 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 reach, with a bar of half of all members writing to the chairman asking for a vote of no confidence. An alternative would be if half of its MPs wrote requesting a vote of no confidence, but this rule is only in force if the party has at least 100 MPs. It currently has five, of which one is Farage.

Farage also has a large degree of control over the board, as the leader is able to pick three choices to sit on it, plus the party chairman; while another three members of the board are chosen by the members.

Ben Habib, the former deputy leader of Reform, who quit over concerns about a lack of democracy for party 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.”