It’s been a busy week for Nigel Farage. After six days of being bombarded with parties, press requests and parliamentary rigmarole, he was this morning sworn in as the Honourable Member for Clacton. Such is the level of attention foisted on the Reform UK leader that even House of Commons staff have reportedly now been told to stop requesting selfies with him. With so much focus on Farage, the inevitable question is: what comes next?
This morning, we got our answer. Reform UK has rejigged its top team, in the wake of the election of five MPs last Friday. Farage, unsurprisingly, retains his spot as leader, with Lee Anderson now billed as the party’s ‘chief whip.’ Entrepreneur Zia Yusuf – who impressed with his speech at last month’s ‘Rally for Reform’ in Birmingham – is named chairman. He takes over from Richard Tice, who is now billed as Deputy Leader, replacing Ben Habib, who has not taken the news well. He wrote on Twitter:
I am considering my position more generally in light of this change. I have long held concerns about the control of the party and the decision making processes. I will reflect on all of this. The key for me is that Reform UK stays true to the promises made to the British people. The movement we have created does not belong to us, it belongs to the people. We are obliged and indebted to the British people.
Unfortunately for Habib, it actually belongs to Farage. As Reform’s majority shareholder, leading personality and spiritual figurehead, he is both legally and politically able to dismiss whomever he wishes. This includes Habib, whose enthusiasm for Ulster unionism caused him to publicly clash with Farage during the campaign over Reform’s allies in Northern Ireland. Farage personally supported the DUP’s Ian Paisley and Sammy Wilson. When asked about Habib’s enthusiasm for the Traditional Unionist Voice, Farage replied simply ‘New leadership brings change.’
Today’s reshuffle is being billed by Reform as a way of showing ‘the increased professionalisation required to allow the party to grow and develope [sic] into the only real opposition in British politics.’ The party has high hopes of making gains at next year’s local elections and, thereafter, in Wales where Reform won more votes than the Tories. The party’s press release this morning trumpets its ‘four million votes’ and ‘ninety-eight second places’. Farage is quoted as saying ‘we will professionalise the party and change politics for good’. It remains to be seen whether this goal of ‘professionalising’ Reform is antithetical to Farage’s stated promise to ‘democratise the party’ too.
Given Farage’s past scrapes with various figures in Ukip, the Brexit party and now Reform, some wonder whether all five Members of Parliament elected last week will still remain in the same party by the end of this parliament. For those tempted to clash with Farage, they ought to remember the old first rule of Ukip: Nigel always wins.
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