An update on the following article first posted on 21 June 2024
Critical Questions for Nigel Farage of the Reform Party and the Conservative Party Chairman
British political parties are traditionally formed as unincorporated associations composed of a membership, rather than established as corporate entities.
Rules are
usually set out in a written constitution, while party affairs are handled by a
committee chosen by members - like that of Labour or the Conservatives. However
this is not the case with the Reform Party.
The Reform
Party is owned by Reform UK Party Ltd, so who controls the Reform Party?
The Reform Party is a
limited company (the Reform UK Party Limited) with a share capital of
fifteen shares. Nigel Farage owns 9 shares in the company, giving him a
controlling majority of 60% The other shareholders are RichardTice, who holds a
third, 5 shares, and Party Treasurer Mehrtash A'Zami who holds 2 shares.
What does this mean? Mr Farage is able to remove Mr Tice as
director, and take the decision to unilaterally dissolve the organisation,
making him the party’s ultimate decision-maker.
It also means that
Nigel Farage could sell his shares and whoever bought them would take control
of the Reform Party.
Mr Farage claimed
Reform UK would “democratise over time” after he was accused of running a
“one-man dictatorship”.
The reality is that at
present the Reform Party is a one man dictatorship and that is unacceptable in
a democracy. So the question is “Nigel
Farage, will you commit to a date by which the Reform Party becomes a
democratic organisation in which ultimate authority rests with the membership
on the basis of one member one vote?”.
The other question
which needs a reply is addressed to the Conservative Party Chairman.
“Why does the
Conservative Party not attack the Reform Party for being a dictatorship?”. Is it perhaps that the Conservative Party is also a dictatorship run by
an elite oligarchy that has taken all the democratic rights that the Party
members had prior to the introduction of the new Constitution of the Party in
1998 e.g. Selection of Candidates, Motions at the Party Conference etc?. So Party Chairman, when will the
Conservative Party bring in a new democratic Constitution in which the ultimate
authority rests with the membership on the basis of one member one vote?.
