July 12, 2024 - 7:00am
That didn’t last long. Just a week on from a general election in which Reform UK gained over 14% of the vote and five MPs, the insurgent party has already degenerated into disunity, division and dispute.
Ben Habib yesterday announced on social media: “I have just been informed by Nigel Farage that Richard Tice is taking over as Deputy Leader of the party. Consequently I no longer hold that position. I am considering my position more generally in light of this change”. He added, ominously: “I will reflect on all of this.”
This is not the first sign of Reform’s members suffering from both differences of opinion and an inability to keep them out of the public eye. Back in February, after Lee Anderson’s controversial comments about “Islamists” controlling London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Tice — who was then Reform’s leader — remained content to welcome the former Tory into the party and said that “Lee speaks for millions of people who are appalled by what is happening to our country.”
By contrast, Habib commented that he would be “quite circumspect” about the prospect of Anderson joining. More recently, Habib was forced to insist that the party did indeed support Traditional Unionist Voice, despite Farage endorsing rival election candidates in the Democratic Unionist Party.
Besides demonstrating fault lines within the party, Habib’s defenestration testifies to another issue besetting Reform. A party whose electoral fortunes only took off after Farage returned as leader and which has been built around the cult of its charismatic frontman is, unsurprisingly, dependent upon his whims and caprices. That is before one turns to Reform’s management structure — registered as a limited company, Farage is the only “person with significant control” listed.
This “significant control” has translated into Farage’s management style. He ousted Tice as leader based upon as much contemplation as a day of pub-drinking, dog-walking and fishing would permit. Reportedly, he did not even inform Tice until hours before the public announcement, having excluded him from an earlier meeting of top advisors. Farage was notably defensive about the power grab, demanding of one journalist: “Do you think he’s been bullied or strong-armed or something?” No wonder Habib’s statement included his “long held concerns about the control of the party and the decision-making processes” within it.
As a man who naturally gravitates towards the media spotlight for his own nourishment and survival in much the same way as a plant does sunshine, this situation is likely to be a source of considerable embarrassment to Farage. For one thing, his own party has publicly slipped into squabbles days after he rejected Conservative MP Edward Leigh’s suggestion of accepting Reform into the Tory fold, on the grounds that the Conservatives “hate each other” and so “won’t provide a decent opposition”. Farage confidently predicted that “while they are busy fighting with themselves we are going to do our own thing; restructure, reorganise, professionalise, democratise and get ready for the next election”.
For all his protestations, Farage specifically ruled out a Conservative-Reform merger “for now”. Only a month ago, he indicated his willingness to lead an amalgamated party — presumably once the Tories rise to his lofty standards. Although polling suggests that nearly half of grassroots Conservative members would support such a move, that figure is likely to fall unless Farage can get his house in order and prove Reform does not represent merely a different flavour of Right-wing psychodrama.
Underlying this bickering is, ironically, the ongoing process of “professionalising” the party, as Farage strives to turn five MPs into a “mass national movement” capable of potentially catapulting him into No. 10 in 2029. Habib and fellow co-deputy David Bull were just collateral damage following internal reorganisation, out in the cold after failing to win seats. Tice now plans to establish branches of Reform nationwide, but a higher priority should be resolving such internal ruptures before the party grows further and establishing decision-making processes beyond how Farage feels from one day to the next. Pre-election, the arch-Brexiteer pledged to put the party under “much stricter control”. That may be his biggest problem.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeAh, the first Reform hit piece on UnHerd…
And a fairly good one too.
However it didn’t go far enough.
No surprise at all.
Farage is the arch narcissistic Grifter. Not a hope in hell he’ll do the hard yards needed. And Reform will have pulled in all the ex BNP types and will have to go through a bloody process to remove them.
All so predictable. Folks who’ve grasped at Reform as their solution will be sorely disappointed but can’t say the signs weren’t there. Probably the same clowns who bought Bojo’s Schlick and Brexit twaddle.
Reform are a vehicle to undo the Conservative Party, a party that has reneged on its membership and supporters.
We must hope that the Tories, who are once again divided, split and reform as to 2 separate parties for the sake of our democracy and the electorate.
So Starmer can receive 500 seats on a 33% share of votes next time facing three conservative parties with a handful of seats?
411 I believe … and yes they abided by the electoral process and won those seats, hardly surprising with the alternative being the Tory party who have reneged on their members and supporters this last 14 years.
A Labour landslide, yet 70% of voters did not support them. Democracy? What democracy?
Could have done what voters appear to have done in France to stop the Far Right and vote more tactically, but Voters probably didn’t feel that strongly about it and weren’t unduly worried about a Lab Govt? They primarily wanted rid of the Tories. They may also have preferred a strong Govt able to do things than a weak, disabled coalition almost paralysed. We just don’t really know.
We have a representative democracy not a direct democracy and no Govt since 1950 has won over 50% of the Vote, so you may be new to an understanding of our Constitution. It is also why there are some checks and balances, like the Courts, albeit the Right when in power didn’t like that.
The size of the majority probably more than Starmer thought helpful if that’s any consolation.
All political parties have internal strife, it’s not restricted to Reform UK.
Reform’s biggest and most urgent task must be to convert from a company into a functional democratic party with members getting a bigger say in how the party is run.
The Tories have been ignoring their members, and it has not served them well, Reform should learn from this.
On the contrary the Tories did listen to their membership and got given Johnson and Truss as leaders and PMs. That didn’t work out all that well did it? It’s axiomatic that political parties that can ignore their membership in critical ways are generally more successful than those where the membership dominate decision making: e.g. compare and contrast Labour under Corbyn and Starmer.
Every politician is a prima donna… huge egos and unbounded belief in their abilities.
There’s a parallel story here. GB News had startup issues with the resignation of Andrew Neil and others, but soon became a major challenger. I see Reform doing the same.
Not quite a parallel story, GB News are a Media Company and not a democratic entity.
ReformUK must democratise as Farage has committed to doing, if he fails then they will fail.
But despite the assumptions of the chattering classes ‘democracy’ is not necessarily a sovereign remedy unless you define what sort of ‘democracy’ is proposed.
While you are right about GB News v ReformUK, I would agree with Robert Leigh in that there’s that typical dynamics when a new structure is set up or starts functioning in a different context and there’s that almost inevitable tension (not unlike tectonic plates shifting) until it all settles down and solidifies.
That Reform needs to democratise is beyond question now that they are a political party represented in Parliament.
I note Farage has already announced :
“we are going to do our own thing; restructure, reorganise, professionalise, democratise and get ready for the next election”.
It seems to me Habib, who sadly failed to be elected, should accept that it is right for Tice to fill the positon of deputy leader after giving way for Farage to be leader.
If Farage lives up to his promise to democratise the party they will be successful, if not then they will wither on the vine.
It sounds like one man being unhappy about being demoted rather than divisions within the party
No, they have real problems… Tice is a fool, having ousted many candidates for woke reasons, and Farage is a complete enigma — the leader of a party but always arms-length away from everything and everyone.
Reform’s greatest strength – the mercurial Farage – is also its greatest weakness.
His brand of bloke-ish iconoclasm is a tremendous media asset and he will use his Parliamentary speaking time to craft some exquisite Tik Tok content.
But building a political party with serious policies across the waterfront of issues (rather than a single issue, one-man-band insurgency? Highly unlikely.
Your comment suggests you haven’t read their manifesto.
Not a manifesto, a contract. That minor(ish) point aside it does have some excellent and challenging proposals (along with a few tensions). As has been noted elsewhere, Reform may not have all the answers but they are asking the right questions.
What the world desperately needs are true leaders, not bureaucratic structures. Farage is this type of leader. That’s all there is to say.
Well, well, it turns out that Reform are not our saviours after all. Like Ukip before them, they are nothing more than the Nigel Farage Roadshow: a disorganised, ill-disciplined, shouty rabble. They are less conservatives and more a puffed-up group of English nationalists who appear to have scant understanding of our country’s ancient customs and traditions.
I regard myself as a true conservative who is deeply alarmed at what Labour has in store for us; namely, the upending of what remains of our ancient, proven constitutional arrangements. We will see a further diminution of parliamentary sovereignty, power diverted to activist judges and lawyers, and an expansion of unaccountable quangos aggressively pushing progressive agendas. This is by far the biggest threat to our society over the next 4-5 years.
But has Reform had anything to say about any of this? No. All they seem to care about is promoting the Farage brand. And the fact that so many so-called conservatives see them as a credible alternative fills me with despair at just how weak and hollowed out conservatism is, both intellectually and spiritually.
As a ‘true conservative’ have you been satisfied with what you’ve had dished up to you by your own party for the last 14 years?
Would you trust them to do better if by some miracle they regained power? Why would you expect that?
By ‘my party’ I presume you mean the Conservative party? I can assure you they are most definitely NOT my party; they, too, are anything but conservative, and have proved themselves shambolic, inept, and clueless in office. But we are now left with a Labour govt with a massive majority that will run rampant over the next few years: this is the very last outcome a conservative should have wished for.
That is sheer “whataboutery”. Really, we expect much better in UnHerd.
A true conservative would have abandoned the fake Tory Liberals and lent their vote to a true centre right Party. It is precisely your sort who have elevated the undeserving Starmer.
And what centre right party might that be? Ulster Voice didn’t stand locally.
I’m trying to recall if any organisation has ever had a disgruntled individual whom, when replaced, was unhappy and made a fuss?
Nope. Nothing comes to mind.
Reform leadership should quickly find new roles and titles for Ben Habib and David Bull as they are assets to the party.
So Ms Eliott has an axe to grind now there are 5/6 seats in the Commons? Pre Nigel they were going nowhere with wet wine bar Tice. If he’d had a clue he’d have targeted vulnerable seats not fired a shotgun at 610. He was never going to broach London, B’ham, Manchester, Scotland. By the time NF appeared the wasteful deed was done and now 605 paper candidates blow away in the wind presumably off back to PAYE.
Ben Habib lost twice and Napoleon Farage needs lucky generals. Bull? Hardly shown his face all year.
With Tice everyone wanted to be in the Officers Mess. Parties need the other ranks, it’s how Armies work. Ben can sew on three stripes and work his way back up.
Providing an alternative country-wide home for conservatives was the right strategy. It is more important to push the Tories down everywhere than win a few extra seats now.
Maybe Ms Elliott should stick to Russia and Eastern Europe. No internal divisions there.
Newsflash: one politician doesn’t like one decision made by the leader of his party. Give me a break.
The writer’s real intention here – to exaggerate & paint black anything Reform does to try to stem its growing popularity – is so obvious, it’s embarrassing.