George Bunn
Guest Reporter
Nigel Farage has confirmed he will be giving up ownership of Reform UK ahead of its conference this weekend.
Unlike other political parties, Reform was established as a private limited company with the Clacton MP holding the majority of shares.
Now, Farage will continue to be Reform UK's leader but added: "I no longer need to be in control of Reform so I'm surrendering all of my shares."
GB News has approached Reform UK for a comment.
Farage said the party was established as a PLC to fast-track the creation of the Brexit Party, now Reform UK, in time for the 2019 European elections. He told BBC that the company structure also allowed him "to stop the party being hijacked by bad people".
However, the party is planning a major overhaul of how it is run at its Birmingham conference this weekend, with Farage saying he was "giving ownership of the party and the big decisions over to the members".
Under the proposed new Reform UK constitution, members will be able to remove any party leader, including Farage, in a no-confidence vote. A vote can be triggered if 50 per cent of all members write to the chairman requesting a motion of no confidence.
Reform MPs can also force a vote if 50 of them, or 50 per cent of them, write to the chairman requesting one, however this would only apply if there are more than 100 Reform MPs in Parliament. The party currently has five.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
It comes as the Reform leader has said he is not holding in-person surgeries in his constituency over fears the public will "flow through the door with knives in their pockets".
Farage said he had been advised not to accommodate the "old-style" physical meetings between MPs and their constituents in his seat of Clacton.
The politician has repeatedly been accused of not prioritising his Commons role, coming under fire for spending time in the US endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign following the July 4 election.
During a phone-in on LBC, the MP was asked whether he had an office in his constituency – and how many surgeries he had held there since being elected more than two months ago.
He said: "Do I have an office in Clacton? Yes. Am I allowing the public to flow through the door with their knives in their pockets? No, no I’m not."
Asked why would the people of Clacton want to flow through the door with knives in their pockets, he said: "Well they did in Southend. They murdered David Amess, and he was a far less controversial figure than me."
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Unlike other political parties, Reform was established as a private limited company with the Clacton MP holding the majority of shares.
Now, Farage will continue to be Reform UK's leader but added: "I no longer need to be in control of Reform so I'm surrendering all of my shares."
GB News has approached Reform UK for a comment.
Farage said the party was established as a PLC to fast-track the creation of the Brexit Party, now Reform UK, in time for the 2019 European elections. He told BBC that the company structure also allowed him "to stop the party being hijacked by bad people".
However, the party is planning a major overhaul of how it is run at its Birmingham conference this weekend, with Farage saying he was "giving ownership of the party and the big decisions over to the members".
Under the proposed new Reform UK constitution, members will be able to remove any party leader, including Farage, in a no-confidence vote. A vote can be triggered if 50 per cent of all members write to the chairman requesting a motion of no confidence.
Reform MPs can also force a vote if 50 of them, or 50 per cent of them, write to the chairman requesting one, however this would only apply if there are more than 100 Reform MPs in Parliament. The party currently has five.
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It comes as the Reform leader has said he is not holding in-person surgeries in his constituency over fears the public will "flow through the door with knives in their pockets".
Farage said he had been advised not to accommodate the "old-style" physical meetings between MPs and their constituents in his seat of Clacton.
The politician has repeatedly been accused of not prioritising his Commons role, coming under fire for spending time in the US endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign following the July 4 election.
During a phone-in on LBC, the MP was asked whether he had an office in his constituency – and how many surgeries he had held there since being elected more than two months ago.
He said: "Do I have an office in Clacton? Yes. Am I allowing the public to flow through the door with their knives in their pockets? No, no I’m not."
Asked why would the people of Clacton want to flow through the door with knives in their pockets, he said: "Well they did in Southend. They murdered David Amess, and he was a far less controversial figure than me."
Find Out More...