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White House Correspondent
Nigel Farage has announced he is “relinquishing” control of Reform UK and giving up his majority shareholder position, just one day before the party begins its annual conference.
The conference, taking place in Birmingham, “marks the coming of age” of the party, Mr Farage said.
Reform UK Ltd is a registered company, unlike most other political parties, and was previously registered as the Brexit Party from 2018-2021.
Companies House lists party leader Mr Farage, and deputy leader Richard Tice, as persons with significant control, with the former currently owning more than 50 per cent of shares.
But in a video posted to X on Thursday, Mr Farage said: “I’ve now made a decision. I no longer need to control this party. I’m going to let go.
“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.”
The Independent revealed plans for wide ranging changes to Reform UK’s party structure in an interview with Zia Yusuf earlier this month.
He emphasised that the changes would be made to ensure the party’s constitution was fit for the long-term future rather than just the next few months.
Reform, which now claims to have more than 70,000 members, has said this year is its largest ever conference with ticket sales more than four times last year’s figures.
Reform UK’s five MPs will each address the conference stage, leading up to a keynote speech by Mr Farage at 4pm which will see him issue a “clarion call for change”.
The party branded the conference “the most exciting of all the political conferences this year”, mocking its mainstream rivals for “festival gratuities” and hosting “lobbyists all offering gifts”.
A preview released on Thursday read: “You have already had the vapid ‘It’s a knockout’ shambles of the Lib Dems in Brighton.
“Next week you will have the Labour festival gratuities and gradgrinds, surrounded by lobbyists all offering gifts.
“And then, oh the pity, the extended funeral rites of a Tory party, lost in its own navel, casting public lots to chose its own pallbearers.”
