Ben Habib Explained
Benyamin Naeem Habib (born 7 June 1965) is a Pakistani-British politician, who served from 2023 to July 2024 as Co-Deputy Leader of Reform UK, alongside David Bull.[1] He and Bull were removed from their position and replaced by Richard Tice as the new Deputy Leader following the 2024 general election.[2] He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He remained in the role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Before becoming involved with Reform UK, Habib was a Conservative Party donor.
Habib is the chief executive of First Property Group, a commercial property investment and fund management company.
Early life, education and career
Benyamin Naeem Habib was born on 7 June 1965 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.[3] [4] His father is a Pakistani Punjabi and his mother is British and was born in Isleworth.[5] [6] He emigrated to the UK in 1979 and attended Rugby School, a private school in Warwickshire.[7] [8] Habib is a former president of its alumni association, the Rugbeian Society.[9] [10] He then attended Robinson College, Cambridge, in 1984, where he studied natural sciences.[11] After graduating, Habib became an analyst in the corporate finance department at former financial services firm Lehman Brothers in 1987.[12] In 1989, he was appointed finance director at insurance broker PWS Holdings.[12]
In 1994, Habib entered the properties business as the managing director of private property development company, JKL Property, before starting his own property fund company First Property Group plc six years later.[13] The company, for which he is the chief executive, operates in the UK, Poland, and Romania.[14] [15]
Political career
Habib was a Conservative Party voter and donor.[7] [16] He supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum and argued the UK's trade opportunities would be better outside of the European Union (EU), that being part of the EU meant that the UK had ceded sovereignty, and that there needed to be greater control of immigration.[17] [18] He had also discussed in interviews how uncertainty around Brexit could be an opportunity for profit for his business.[19] [20]
In the 2019 European parliamentary election, Habib stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the London constituency. He was first on his party's list, and was elected as one of its two MEPs in the constituency.[21] [22] He was a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and part of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia.[3] According to Transparency International, Habib was the richest MEP elected in the Ninth European Parliament based on annual earnings from his second job. He declared €960,000 annual earnings from his company, First Property Group.[23]
In January 2020, Habib voted in favour of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which included the Northern Ireland Protocol, being ratified by the EU Parliament.[24]
In 22 February 2020, Habib published an article on Brexit-Watch.org where he described the Protocol as being a unique advantage to Northern Ireland business that would help the province grow into a tiger economy. He also recommended Unionists should not resist its implementation and instead "make it work for its own great benefit and that of the United Kingdom".[25]
In March 2023, he was made co-deputy leader of Reform UK (previously The Brexit Party) party with David Bull, who had been deputy since 2021.[26] [27] At the same time he became the party's Brexit and the Union spokesman. He was the party's candidate for the Wellingborough by-election in February 2024. Habib finished third of eleven candidates, with 13% of the vote, the party's best result at a by-election.[28] [29] He was again candidate for Reform in the new Wellingborough and Rushden constituency at the 2024 general election where he came third with 21.5% of the vote.[30]
In April 2024, during an interview with Julia Hartley-Brewer, he advocated in favour of leaving immigrants to drown when they try to cross the Channel by boat.[31]
In July 2024, Habib and Bull were removed as deputy leaders of Reform UK and replaced by Richard Tice.
Habib quit Reform UK on 28 November 2024, citing concerns over the party's structure as well as "fundamental differences" with party leader Nigel Farage over Brexit, and disagreements over migration, with Habib in favour of "mass deportations".[32]
Legal challenge against the Northern Ireland Protocol
Despite having previously voted to ratify it, in February 2021 Habib, together with Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, and Baroness Hoey, applied for a judicial review of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. They were later joined in their litigation by Arlene Foster, First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, the inaugural First Minister of Northern Ireland; and Steve Aiken, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.[33] The main cause of the legal action was to examine the lawfulness and constitutionality of the Northern Ireland Protocol, in regards to their claimed incompatibility of the Protocol and related regulations with the Acts of Union 1800. In June 2021, the High Court of Northern Ireland (HCNI) in Belfast dismissed the legal challenge on several grounds, including that it is in conflict with the Acts of Union 1800 and thus unconstitutional.[34] The HCNI ruled that although the Protocol conflicted with the Acts of Union the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 also has constitutional effect and had implicitly repealed aspects of the Acts.[35] The court also rejected arguments based on the Northern Ireland Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law. Likewise, the court rejected a challenge to the Regulations, which provided that the consent mechanism in the Protocol was not to be subject to the cross-community voting rules in the Assembly.[36] On 14 March 2022, that decision was affirmed by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, with the judgment making reference to the "obvious inconsistency" of Habib first voting in favour of the Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol, as stated in paragraph 11 of his sworn affidavit, but then subsequently calling for a repudiation.[37] [38]
On 30 November 2022, they appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.[39] On 8 February 2023, the Supreme Court agreed with the previous courts and dismissed the challenge.[40] [41] [42] On 21 March 2023, it was confirmed by Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Caine (in a written reply to a question submitted by Kate Hoey) that the UK Government had spent a total of £196,567 on legal fees associated with defending the court challenges against the Northern Ireland Protocol.[43] [44]
See also
List of British Pakistanis
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Reform UK Departmental Team Responsibilities. Reform UK. March 2023. 15 June 2024.
- Habib . Ben . benhabib6 . 1811347815332733337. 11 July 2024 . I have just been informed by Nigel Farage that Richard Tice is taking over as deputy leader of the party. Consequently I no longer hold that position. I am considering my position more generally in light of this change. I have long held concerns about the control of the party and the decision making processes. I will reflect on all of this. The key for me is that Reform UK stays true to the promises made to the British people. The movement we have created does not belong to us, it belongs to the people. We are obliged and indebted to the British people..
- Web site: Ben Habib. European Parliament. 10 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115509/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197642/BEN_HABIB/home. 11 August 2019. live.
- Web site: Benyamin Naeem Habib. Sutton Council. 11 August 2019.
- News: The Telegraph. Habib. Ben. The Tories have shattered the immigration dream. 23 November 2023. 19 January 2024. 19 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119094604/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/23/the-tories-have-shattered-the-immigration-dream/. live.
- News: The Brexit Party promises Theresa May's Conservatives 'a really good kicking' in the European elections. Business Insider. 6 May 2019. 11 August 2019. Payne. Adam. https://web.archive.org/web/20190513000000/https://www.businessinsider.com/brexit-party-ben-habib-nigel-farage-theresa-may-conservatives-kicking-european-elections-2019-5?r=US&IR=T. 13 May 2019. live.
- News: Off to Brussels with a Brexit message. The Times. 17 June 2019. 11 August 2019. Lea. Robert. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115508/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/off-to-brussels-with-a-brexit-message-w80ctzwfz. 11 August 2019. live.
- Web site: First Property placement. Rugby School. 9 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115512/https://www.rugbyschool.co.uk/rugbeian-society/business-network-old/internship-network/2017-internships/first-property-placement/. 11 August 2019. dead.
- Web site: Floreat 2014. Rugby School. 11 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811124541/https://www.rugbyschool.co.uk/rugby-Live/assets/File/Rugbeian%2520Society/Publications/Floreat%25202014.pdf. 11 August 2019. dead.
- Web site: Alumni Community. Rugby School. 11 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811124542/https://www.rugbyschool.co.uk/about/alumni-community/. 11 August 2019. live.
- Web site: Annual Appeal. Robinson College, Cambridge. 10 August 2019. 15 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115518/https://www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/alumni/ways-support-robinson/annual-appeal. 11 August 2019. dead.
- Web site: Ben Habib . 2024-06-29 . First Property Group . en-US.
- Web site: Profile. Information Management Network. 10 August 2019. 11 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115512/https://mobile.imn.org/dialog/view_speaker_bio/BHFVOUZM8EJB/20131031_RE_0012. live.
- News: First Property raises funds to gain from post-Brexit property weakness. Reuters. 17 July 2017. 10 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115508/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-first-property-fund/first-property-raises-funds-to-gain-from-post-brexit-property-weakness-idUKKBN1A20LR. 11 August 2019. dead.
- Web site: Ben Habib. First Property Group. 10 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190412220846/https://www.fprop.com/team/ben-habib/. 12 April 2019. live.
- News: Nigel Farage has near-total control of Brexit party, constitution suggests. The Guardian. 18 April 2019. 11 August 2019. Mason. Rowena. https://web.archive.org/web/20190814223749/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/18/nigel-farage-has-near-total-control-of-brexit-party-constitution-suggests. 14 August 2019. live.
- News: 'Immigration is like a Ponzi scheme' Charlie Brooks meets Telegraph reader Ben Habib ahead of next week's European Union referendum. The Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2016. 10 August 2019. Brooks. Charlie. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811115759/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/immigration-is-like-a-ponzi-scheme-charlie-brooks-meets-telegrap/. 11 August 2019. live.
- Web site: EU is making a free trade deal difficult, Brexit Party candidate says. CNBC. 22 May 2019. 2 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190831142738/https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/05/22/eu-is-making-a-free-trade-deal-difficult-brexit-party-candidate-says.html. 31 August 2019. live.
- News: Exclusive: Candidate In Farage's Brexit Party Is Profiting From EU Exit Uncertainty. Huffington Post. 12 April 2019. 11 August 2019. Singh. Arj. 27 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210427200134/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/exclusive-candidate-in-farages-brexit-party-is-profiting-from-eu-exit-uncertainty_uk_5cb09de8e4b098b9a2d2e751. live.
- Web site: Brexit Party MEP mansplains the economy to Emily Maitlis after being accused of profiting from a no-deal. The Independent. 17 July 2019. 11 August 2019. Evans. Greg. https://web.archive.org/web/20190811121011/https://www.indy100.com/article/ben-habib-emily-maitlis-bbc-newsnight-brexit-party-mep-economy-watch-video-9008031. 11 August 2019. live.
- Web site: 2019 European elections: List of candidates for London. BBC News. 28 April 2019. 10 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190619232934/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48081347. 19 June 2019. live.
- Web site: European elections 2019: Lib Dems make London MEP gains. BBC News. 27 May 2019. 9 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190616195414/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48417664. 16 June 2019. live.
- News: Brexit party MEPs are EU's biggest earners in second jobs, study finds. The Guardian. Rankin. Jennifer. 26 September 2019. 26 September 2019. 26 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190926145319/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/26/brexit-party-meps-are-eus-biggest-earners-in-second-jobs-study-finds. live.
- Web site: Brexit deal approved by the European Parliament | News | European Parliament. 29 January 2020. European Parliament. 1 December 2022. 29 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200129230532/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20200128IPR71204/brexit-deal-approved-by-the-european-parliament. live.
- News: 22 February 2020. Northern Ireland's unique opportunity to become a Tiger Economy . Brexit-Watch. https://web.archive.org/web/20210223104232/https://www.brexit-watch.org/northern-irelands-unique-opportunity-to-become-a-tiger-economy . 23 February 2021 .
- News: Ben Habib announces election candidacy after NI kept him in 'political arena'. Belfast Telegraph. 3 January 2024. 10 February 2024. McGovern. Eimear. 19 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119235413/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ben-habib-announces-election-candidacy-after-ni-kept-him-in-political-arena/a1766854417.html. live.
- Web site: Ben Habib Appointed Reform UK Joint Deputy Leader. 11 February 2024. Reform UK (YouTube). 17 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240217091529/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpoZ7W_s63g. live.
- Web site: Labour wins Wellingborough seat in by-election . . 16 February 2024 . 16 February 2024 . 16 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240216042453/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-68313404 . live .
- News: 14 February 2024 . Reform Anticipating 'Best Result Yet' In Wellingborough By-Election . 14 February 2024 . Politics Home . 14 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240214235000/https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/reform-ben-habib-wellingborough-by-election-conservative-vote-share . live .
- Web site: Declaration of Result of Poll - Election of a Member of Parliament for Wellingborough and Rushden (July 2024) . . 11 July 2024 . 5 July 2024 . 6 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240706034141/https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/elections-and-voting/election-results/declaration-result-poll-election-member-parliament . live .
- News: Mitchell . Archie . Reform UK deputy leader says UK should ‘absolutely’ let migrants drown in the Channel . 21 September 2024 . The Independent . 24 April 2024 . en . Ms Hartley-Brewer asked: “Then you would leave them to drown?” “Absolutely,” he replied. “They cannot be infantalised to the point that we become hostage to fortune.”.
- Web site: Whannel . Kate . Former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns joins Reform UK . . 3 December 2024 . 28 November 2024.
- News: Judge rejects all grounds of challenges arguing terms of NI protocol unlawful. The Irish Times. 30 June 2021. 10 September 2022. 10 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220910201829/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/judge-rejects-all-grounds-of-challenges-arguing-terms-of-ni-protocol-unlawful-1.4607710. live.
- News: Belfast court dismisses legal challenge to Brexit Northern Ireland protocol . Lisa . O'Carroll . 30 June 2021 . . 30 June 2021 . 30 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210630152122/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/30/belfast-court-dismisses-legal-challenge-to-brexit-northern-ireland-protocol . live .
- News: Brexit: NI Protocol is lawful, High Court rules . John . Campbell . BBC News . 30 June 2021 . 1 July 2021 . 1 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210701032544/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57666255 . live .
- Web site: Allister (James Hugh) et al's Application and In the matter of the Protocol [2021] NIQB 64]. Judiciary NI. 30 June 2021. 1 December 2022. 1 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221201163540/https://www.judiciaryni.uk/judicial-decisions/2021-niqb-64. live.
- News: Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, court of appeal rules . Lisa . O'Carroll . . 14 March 2022 . 28 April 2022 . 28 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220428054544/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/14/northern-ireland-protocol-is-lawful-court-of-appeal-rules . live .
- Web site: In Her Majesty's Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland on Appeal from the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland (Judicial Review) Between: James Hugh Allister, Benyamin Naeem Habib, Steve Aiken, The Rt Hon. Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Catharine Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin and William David, The Rt Hon. Baron Trimble of Lisnagarvey and Secretary of State For Northern Ireland [2021] ICOS 2021/18686/01 ]. Judiciary NI . 14 March 2022 .
- Web site: In the matter of an application by James Hugh Allister and others for Judicial Review (Appellants) (Northern Ireland) . Supreme Court UK . 30 November 2022 . 1 December 2022 . 1 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221201113636/https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2022-0093.html . live .
- Web site: Judgment In the matter of an application by James Hugh Allister and others for Judicial Review (Appellants) (Northern Ireland) [2023] UKSC 5 ]. Supreme Court UK . 8 February 2023 . 8 February 2023 . 8 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208110340/https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2022-0089-0093-judgment.pdf . live .
- News: Northern Ireland Protocol is lawful, Supreme Court rules . BBC News . 8 February 2023 . 8 February 2023 . 8 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230308135613/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64558530 . live .
- Web site: The Supreme Court . In the matter of an application by Clifford Peeples for Judicial Review (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) – The Supreme Court . 21 February 2023 . www.supremecourt.uk . 13 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230213185613/https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2022-0089.html . live .
- Web site: Northern Ireland Protocol: Legal Costs . 30 March 2023 . 30 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230330095108/https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-09/hl6310 . live .
- News: UK Government spent almost £200,000 defending NI Protocol legal challenges. The Independent. 21 March 2023. 30 March 2023. 30 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230330095106/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/kate-hoey-government-northern-ireland-ben-habib-dup-b2305475.html. live.