The Reform UK party must be democratised immediately
The Reform UK party was founded on the 23rd of November 2018 as the Brexit Party Limited, in order to put pressure on the failing Conservative party, who were making a mess of Brexit. In fact, it is fair to say that Theresa May sabotaged Brexit, called an election that she didn’t need to in 2017 and threw away her majority, leaving the government in a stalemate.
In April 2019, Nigel Farage launched the Brexit party and within weeks, it was a threat to every single Conservative marginal seat, which could have cost them the election, this made them come to terms, and those terms were, that the Conservatives would respect the will of the people and leave the European Union.
The result of this was that Boris Johnson promised to proceed with Brexit and in return, Nigel Farage stood down the Brexit Party candidates and the Conservatives went on to win the election by a huge majority.
Following the complete failure of the conservatives to deal with Brexit correctly, in February 2021, the dormant Brexit party was renamed as Reform UK and then Richard Tice, along with Ben Habib, Ann Widecombe, and a few others, took the party from unknown to the position where it polled more than four million votes in the recent election, which also resulted in the party wining five seats in the houses of Parliament.
What happens now and what needs to be done?
At its conception, the quickest and easiest way to form the party was as a limited company, which simplified the process, in order to allow the focus to be on the fight ahead, however, once the election was over, the very first step should have been to democratise the party immediately, or at least to announce the intention to do so as soon as possible, but why is this important?
As the party gained exposure and support through the election campaign and in particular once Nigel Farage threw his hat into the ring, the number of paid-up supporters grew rapidly, reaching 65,000 at the last count. However, these supporters do not have any say in the party, as they would do with the other parties and that must change as soon as possible.
Here is an example, out of well over 600 candidates who stood for Reform UK at the election, only five were elected, the remainder are now in limbo, because technically speaking, they are not candidates, they have no official position, they have no say and they really have no idea where they stand.
Changes were made at the top, that many supporters are not happy about and once again, they have absolutely no right to vote or even officially voice an opinion, this is not right.
I am of the opinion that the party should move to a democratic format immediately, all those who are paid supporters should be entitled to vote, they should be organised into their respective constituencies, then the local party could arrange monthly meetings, to include the members, who would then be free to express their opinion about the party and policy. This is crucial if the party is going to become a serious force in the next election, which may not be as far away as people think.
At this point, the immediate and most important process must be for the members to elect candidates for each constituency, so that the members choose their candidate, who will be accountable to them and in turn, the candidates would be reassured that they have been democratically elected by their members and have the mandate of the people to campaign for their constituency throughout this parliament, rather than the decision being made hastily as an afterthought at a later stage.
Whilst many excuse this as being something that takes time, I would argue that it need not take too long, but a simple pledge to implement democracy in a few weeks, or months would have sufficed at this stage, but this has not happened.
I understand that there are many candidates who are older and may well have no intention of standing at the next election, for those who would like to, it is highly unfair that they have absolutely no idea where they stand.
The creation of local party headquarters, which could initially be the use of a social club for monthly meetings and as a physical location for members to discuss issues as and when they wish, would have huge benefits for the party.
Despite the fact that I decided to stand down, primarily for this reason and the fact that I disagree with the appointment of a CEO who has literally walked in off the street, made a large contribution and leap-frogged everyone to be placed at the top, the reality is, that I had nothing official to stand down from.
I may have upset people at a local level by taking this decision, as those who are following events will know, Ben Habib has also spoken out about the urgent need to democratise the party, it cannot wait and, in the meantime, the momentum is being lost.
I have absolutely no objection to the democratic election of local candidates, in that event, I would stand and whoever the members choose would be more than fine by me, but it must be democratic, it must be the choice of the members and the members must have and deserve to have this choice.
Whilst the party was created and championed by founding members, I am of the opinion that the party not only belongs to the four million voters, but also to the people who have paid to support the party, all those who have promoted it, campaigned for it, and those who see Reform UK as their last hope of saving the United Kingdom, which it is, but in order to do so, this party must be democratised immediately, it must be in the hands of the members and it must be accountable to them, in that regard my position is unwavering and if that does not please some people, then so be it.
As I see it, this is a matter of urgency, before the huge support for Reform UK begins to dwindle and wither away, before some very hard-working candidates, who fought so hard and mostly funded their campaigns out of their own pockets begin to lose heart and before the masses begin to feel that the party is not reflecting their wishes, but rather the wishes of one man, and that would be catastrophic.
Summary
In short, if the party is going to maintain the current momentum and keep their supporters engaged and continue to grow, it must be democratised immediately to enable the following:
- Supporters to become voting members
- Members will have the right to select and vote for their local candidates.
- All existing former candidates who would like to stand in the future to be elected locally and be official PPCs.
- Members will have a say in party policy and leadership
- The creation of local party headquarters for party meetings and for members to meet, discuss policy and vote.
Failure to address these issues post haste will be detrimental to the party and the support will suffer, we have come too far to allow this to happen. This party belongs to the people I stand for democracy in every manner and that is what I have been fighting for, in the event that there is no will to address this, then it will appear that I have been labouring under a misapprehension.