Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, claims to speak for the underdog and the disenfranchised and aims to grab working class votes. But a quick glance at that party and its backers shows that it is financed by billionaires with their own objectives, not those of the working class and the poor.
Farage himself, however much he makes himself out to be a man of the people, is from a privileged background. He was educated at one of Britain’s poshest public schools, Dulwich College, and at the age of eighteen became a commodities trader in the City . He was a member of the Conservative Party until 1992. Meanwhile he calls on journalists to get out of their metropolitan bubble and relate to “real people.” A millionaire, he is also the highest-earning MP, having made almost £1.2m a year from his programmes on GB News. This TV channel is co-owned by hedge fund billionaire Paul Marshall.
A visit to the USA on 17th July, costing £32,000, after the assassination attempt on Trump, was financed by Christopher Harborne, a crypto investor based in Thailand.
Richard Tice, the main payroller of Reform UK, a Reform UK MP himself, and until recently Reform leader until ousted by Farage, has financed Reform to the tune of several million pounds. He donated at least £500,000 during the recent election. Like Farage, he is from a privileged background. He was educated at posh Uppingham School . He is a multi-millionaire and runs the property investment firm Quidnet Capital.
Another financer of Reform is Robin Birley, educated at the top public school Eton. He owns an elite club in Mayfair, frequented by Farage and Boris Johnson. He has donated £25,000 to Reform.
Another big donor is Zia Yusuf, who has donated thousands of pounds. He earnt £31 million from selling his luxury concierge app Velocity Black in 2023, and is now Reform chairman. Richard Smith, who owns a company supplying electronic systems to the aviation industry, bunged Reform UK a sum of £50,000 in June.
Reform UK also received £10,000 from hedge-fund millionaire Crispin Odey. An investigation by the Financial Times revealed allegations of serious sexual misconduct, which he denies.
Holly Vallance, former singer and actor, is married to billionaire property developer Nick Candy. She donated £50,000 to Reform in June. Fitriani Hay, one of the biggest racehorse owners and breeders, similarly gave
£50,000 to Reform. Previously she had funded Liz Truss’s leadership campaign in 2022.She is married to James Hay, an energy magnate owning £325 million.
Ben Habib, recently ousted by Farage and Tice as deputy co-chairman of Reform, is another privileged property millionaire. He attended posh public school Rugby. He eventually entered the property business, after a period as a financial analyst for Lehman Brothers. He made millions as chief executive of First Property, and was previously yet another funder of the Conservative Party.
David Lilley gave £100,000 to Reform in June. He makes his money from investing in natural resources. He controls a series of companies that own 12,000 hectares of farmland in the Stavropol region of Russia, which produces cereals and oilseeds He is chief executive of investment fund Drakewood Capital.
Rupert Lowe , Reform MP, went to posh school Radley College and then worked in the City. He was appointed a Director of Rutherford Health in 2018 and Digme Fitness in 2017. Another Reform MP, James McMurdock, worked in the banking sector between the early 2000s until 2024.
These are the “real people” behind Reform UK, property developers, City speculators and elite members of the Establishment.
Reform UK is no friend to the working class and the poor. It wants to further privatise the NHS, scrap environmental controls and raise tax thresholds. It despises the poor it claims to represent, one of its MPs, Lee Anderson, another former Tory, sneered at people using food banks, and then later criticised nurses who were forced to use food banks, saying “they’ve got something wrong with their own finances.”
This article originally appeared in latest issue of the ACG’s newsheet, Jackdaw.