Richard Tice is the deputy leader of Reform UK and the man most responsible for building the party into the national force it became ahead of the 2024 general election. While Nigel Farage is the movement's public face, Tice provided the organisational backbone — the branch network, the membership base, and the operational infrastructure — during the three years he led the party between 2021 and 2024.
Business Career
Before entering politics, Tice made his fortune in commercial property development. He has run multiple business ventures and built a track record as an entrepreneur in the British property sector. His business background fundamentally shapes his politics: he is a committed free-marketer who believes low taxes, light regulation, and cheap energy are the foundations of economic growth — and that current government policy on all three is getting it wrong.
Tice was also a key figure in the financial infrastructure of the Brexit movement. He co-founded Eldon Insurance (now renamed) and has been a significant donor to the Reform movement, backing it through the years when it struggled for recognition and airtime.
Building Reform UK
When Farage stepped back from day-to-day leadership in 2021, Tice took on the chairmanship and then the leadership of Reform UK. The task was daunting: the party had been essentially a vehicle for Farage's personality, with minimal party infrastructure. Under Tice, membership grew from a few thousand to over 100,000, the branch network expanded to cover all 650 constituencies, and the party established a professional central operation.
This groundwork was essential to Reform UK's 2024 performance. When Farage returned to lead the campaign six weeks before polling day, he was inheriting a party that was ready — rather than having to build one from scratch.
Energy Policy and Net Zero
If Tice has a signature issue, it is energy. He is one of the most consistent and detailed critics of net zero policy in British political life, arguing that the UK's aggressive decarbonisation agenda — banning new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, mandating heat pumps, building offshore wind at scale — amounts to an act of deliberate economic self-harm. His argument is not simply that net zero is expensive, but that it exports emissions to China and elsewhere while destroying British industrial competitiveness.
Boston and Skegness: In Parliament
At the 2024 general election, Tice stood in Boston and Skegness — a Lincolnshire coastal seat that was one of Reform UK's primary target constituencies. He won the seat, becoming the MP for one of the most pro-Brexit, Leave-voting communities in England. Boston and Skegness voted 76% Leave in 2016, the highest Leave share of any constituency in the country, making it natural territory for Reform UK. Tice now sits in Parliament as the party's deputy leader alongside Farage, giving Reform UK a two-pronged leadership presence at Westminster.
"Net zero is the biggest act of economic self-destruction in British history. We are exporting our emissions and importing our poverty."Richard Tice, Reform UK Deputy Leader (paraphrasing his repeated position on energy policy)
Career Timeline
- 1964Born 13 September in England
- 1990s–2010sBuilt career in commercial property development
- 2016Backed Leave.EU campaign during Brexit referendum
- 2019Stood as Brexit Party candidate, Hartlepool
- 2021Became leader of Reform UK (then Brexit Party rebranded)
- 2021–2024Built Reform UK's national infrastructure — membership, branches, fundraising
- 2024 JuneStood aside for Nigel Farage; became deputy leader
- 2024 JulyWon Boston and Skegness — elected MP at the July 2024 general election
Frequently Asked Questions
Richard Tice (born 13 September 1964) is the deputy leader of Reform UK. A businessman and property developer, he co-founded and led Reform UK from 2021 to 2024, building the party's national infrastructure before handing leadership back to Nigel Farage ahead of the 2024 general election.
Yes. Richard Tice won Boston and Skegness at the July 2024 general election, becoming the Reform UK MP for that Lincolnshire seat. Boston and Skegness recorded the highest Leave vote (76%) of any constituency in the 2016 Brexit referendum, making it natural territory for Reform UK.
Tice is a property developer and businessman. He made his fortune in commercial property development and has run various business ventures. He also co-founded the Leave.EU campaign funding vehicle and has been a significant financial backer of the Reform movement.
Tice is a free-market conservative who is particularly associated with Reform UK's energy policy. He is one of the party's most prominent critics of net zero, arguing that green levies push up household bills, damage British industry, and amount to economic self-harm with no meaningful impact on global temperatures.
Yes. Tice led Reform UK from November 2021 to June 2024, a period in which he grew the party's membership to over 100,000 and built a national branch network. He stood aside when Farage announced his return to the leadership six weeks before the 2024 general election.
Tice is deputy leader of Reform UK and MP for Boston and Skegness, having won that Lincolnshire seat at the July 2024 general election. He serves as the party's Treasury and business spokesperson in Parliament.
Tice has been one of the most vocal critics of green levies and net zero energy policy in British politics. He regularly argues that the UK's energy bills are among the highest in Europe due to green policies, and that scrapping net zero targets and reopening North Sea licensing would cut household energy costs significantly.
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