Former Reform chief Ben Habib sets up new party to take on Nigel Farage

Former Reform co-leader and ardent anti-Protocol campaigner Ben Habib has launched a rival political party – and says he hopes his new movement would work alongside the TUV in Northern Ireland.

Advance UK is a direct pitch to disaffected Reform voters – including those kicked out over social media posts – and says it is committed to “democracy, national unity and British values”.

placeholder image — Ben Habib hopes to prise the TUV out of an electoral pact with Nigel Farage's Reform UK - and into an arrangement with his new Advance UK party. Mr Habib is pictured here in 2024, during his stint as Reform's deputy leader, signing a general election pact with Jim Allister's party.

It has received endorsement from the tech billionaire and former member of the Trump administration, Elon Musk. The X owner responded to Ben Habib’s announcement on the social media platform with a Union Flag and the comment “Bravo”.

Mr Habib has told the News Letter that he hopes anything his new party does in Northern Ireland will be with the TUV.

Jim Allister’s party has declined to comment on the matter – although it is understood Mr Habib has made an approach over possible future co-operation. TUV is currently still in an electoral pact with Reform UK, set up during Ben Habib’s time in the party.

That arrangement focused on a limited number of areas – including taxation, immigration and crucially opposition to the Irish Sea border.

However, after quitting reform when Nigel Farage returned as leader, Ben Habib has slammed Mr Farage’s commitment to the Union and the anti-Protocol cause.

Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme, Mr Habib says his former party colleague does not represent the entire UK and said Reform doesn’t have a political philosophy.

Pointing to previous comments from Mr Farage about the inevitability of a united Ireland, he said: “these kinds of comments from Farage are not worthy of a prospective Prime Minister.

“If you can't understand the absolute critical importance of the integrity of the country that you wish to be Prime Minister of, you shouldn't be Prime Minister of it. We are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

“And when I say ‘in all its parts and for all its people’, IT may not be the exact wording, but it's taking… its lead from Article Six of the Act of Union 1800 which created our country. And it seems to me that Farage doesn't stand for that”.

Reform UK is still committed to the removal of the Windsor Framework, although it has not been a major part of the party’s message here since Mr Farage became leader.

On a potential arrangement with the TUV, Ben Habib said “When I was deputy leader of Reform UK, I established an alliance with the Traditional Unionist Voice – Jim Allister's party – and we would look across the Irish Sea to the TUV again and do our best to work with Jim in the in the most positive way, to return as many MPs of our political philosophy to Parliament”. In a press release announcing the party’s establishment, Ben Habib said: “We’re not going to be throwing our members under a bus just because they said something silly on Twitter a few years ago.

“You’re free to express yourself, without fear or favour. It is our policies and our mission that you endorse when you join us, not a rigid ideological checklist.”

He also said that the term right-wing is “lazy” and “used to discredit those who believe in democracy, national unity and British values” – saying no other party is standing for “the basic principles Advance UK champions, namely, a fully independent UK, uncensored debate, national democracy, and the fair application of the law”.