By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) -Eurosceptic politician Nigel Farage has given up formal control of his right-wing Reform UK party, which is currently leading in opinion polls, as he seeks to democratise its structure in a bid to win Britain’s next general election.
Reform has been registered as a private company, with Farage running it since 2018 as the majority shareholder, an arrangement that gave him an unusual degree of control over a British political party.
On Wednesday, Farage and Richard Tice, the deputy party leader, gave up their more than 90% shareholding in Reform UK Party Limited, according to filings with Companies House, the UK corporate register, reviewed by Reuters.
The party will now be controlled by a renamed entity called REFORM 2025 LTD, the filings show, and Reform will be controlled by its more than 200,000 members.
“We are pleased to announce that, as promised, Nigel Farage has handed over ownership of Reform UK to its members,” party Chairman Zia Yusuf said in a statement. He said Reform UK was now a non-profit organisation, with no shareholders.
Earlier this month, Reform overtook Britain’s governing Labour Party to become the country’s most popular political party in a major opinion poll for the first time, reflecting growing unhappiness with Prime Minister Keir Starmer seven months into his premiership.
Farage, who did more than anyone else to force Britain’s 2016 Brexit vote on leaving the European Union, leads a party that would introduce tougher immigration, opposes Britain’s climate targets and wants lower tax.
Reform has five members of parliament out of 650 but it came second in around 100 seats at the last election, and it appears to be benefiting from a growing anti-establishment mood across large parts of Europe.
The party has seen high-profile defections from the Conservative Party in recent weeks and is trying to convince voters it is in a position to form the next government ahead of the next general election, which must be held by 2029.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Kate Holton)
