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A few warning lights are flashing over Reform UK’s latest accounts filed with Companies House.
The accounts show that the party is dependent on a large loan from a director.
Despite making a profit in 2023, the party – which is unusually set up as a private company with shareholders – has negative net assets. In other words, it is in debt to a tune that far exceeds its current resources. The company is therefore technically insolvent, though it is likely to survive if it can service its debt repayment terms.
This debt is owed to the party’s former leader, and now deputy leader, Richard Tice MP.
Tice is listed, albeit not by name, as the substantial long-term creditor to the party, to the tune of £1,083,000 in 2022 and 2023. This ‘director’s loan’ is interest-free and appears to be without strings or a timeframe for repayment. Directors are allowed to lend to their own companies, but it is relatively uncommon.
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Now, there may also be tax considerations for both the company, Reform UK and Tice in terms of the loan. But the bigger potential issue is that large loans from directors raise questions of conflicts of interest. For example, if Tice were to call in his loan at short notice, or equally, to convert it into a donation – it could give him significant leverage.
But what really stands out in the accounts is this: a repayment of £200,000 – nearly a fifth of the total loan value – was repaid to Richard Tice’s on June 10th this year.