Reform UK select millionaire businessman and former MEP as candidate for Wellingborough seat in upcoming by-election

Ben Habib has been selected by Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party) to stand in the upcoming by-election for the now-vacant Wellingborough seat in Parliament.

The former Brexit MEP’s candidacy was announced in a press conference held by the party on Wednesday morning, where he addressed the country, as well as the town’s constituents.

He said: “What’s really been exercising me since 2020 which kept me in the political arena after we ostensibly left the European Union was an act of complete and utter political weakness from our government.

“The reason I’m standing in Wellingborough is because it’s not sufficient anymore simply to defeat the Tories, Reform UK has to lead the way and get seats in Parliament.

"This government has brought the UK to the precipice of economic collapse and cultural collapse.

“I intend to give Wellingborough by-election the best swing of my bat.”

There was no mention during the conference of any local issues the town has been grappling with, including town centre regeneration, knife crime and county lines.

While announcing Habib’s candidacy, party leader Richard Tice called him a ‘fantastic, brilliant candidate.’

Despite initially being ‘reluctant’ to join Reform UK less than a year ago, Habib notes that he was ‘drawn in eventually to Reform because the only way to make an impact in a democracy is at the polls.’

Habib was appointed co-deputy leader of Reform UK seven months later, and also currently serves as CEO of First Property Group plc, a company which he founded in 1994.

The Wellingborough constituency has been without an MP since the recall petition ousted Tory MP Peter Bone from parliament. The process required 10 per cent of the electorate in the constituency to sign the petition that lasted for six weeks, with 13.2 per cent of people doing so.

Ben Habib joins the likes of Labour’s Gen Kitchen, Liberal Democrats’ Ana Savage Gunn, and Will Morris of the Green Party vying for the seat in the as-yet-unannounced by-election, which will be succeeded by a General Election, also yet to receive an official date.