Richard Tice - MP for Boston and Skegness / Business, Trade and Energy Spokesperson | Reform Watch
Profile and accountability tracker for Richard Tice, MP for Boston and Skegness / Business, Trade and Energy Spokesperson. Reform UK.
Role: MP for Boston and Skegness / Business, Trade and Energy Spokesperson
Party: Reform UK
Recorded incidents (showing 1-10 of 14)
Richard Tice backs prioritising married parents and British-born children for social housing
Category: xenophobia
Richard Tice (mp, East Midlands) said in a Times Radio interview and at a press conference that it would be surely preferable for children to have married parents and that having British-born children should be encouraged, while defending his party’s proposals to prioritise married couples aged under 35 with children, veterans and workers for social housing. He said married British couples would be given preference under the party’s proposed social housing rules. Homelessness charity Shelter said the plans could leave families trapped in temporary accommodation and put people fleeing domestic abuse at risk, and a Labour spokesperson criticised the proposal. The comments form part of Reform’s wider policy to move foreign nationals down the social housing list and follow a previous pledge by the party to remove foreign nationals from social housing; Mr Tice has defended the policy as party policy and remains deputy leader of Reform UK.
Richard Tice says foreign nationals should be placed at back of social housing queue
Category: xenophobia
Richard Tice (mp, East Midlands) said in an interview on GB News that Reform would introduce a "suitability test" to prioritise young British workers, young married couples and veterans for social housing and that foreign nationals should be removed from the social housing queue. He said the change would place British-born workers and veterans at the top of the queue rather than relying solely on a needs-based test. He defended the proposal as a question of fairness, saying local taxpayers should not be expected to house people who do not work and pay their way, and said changes would be required to the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act to implement it. He presented the measure as part of Reform's housing platform and said details of funding and implementation would be announced at a Reform press conference.
Richard Tice posts misleading claims about ONS winter deaths data
Category: social media conduct
Richard Tice (mp, East Midlands) posted on X that the Office for National Statistics had stopped publishing data on winter excess deaths because the results did not suit Net Zero dogma. He amplified a post by Kathryn Porter, who describes herself as an independent energy consultant. The post presented a change in official reporting as suppression of evidence rather than a methodological change. The ONS discontinued an older methodology after review, and the UK Health Security Agency now publishes cold mortality statistics alongside heat mortality statistics, so the assertion that data were being withheld for Net Zero reasons was misleading. Tice is deputy leader of Reform UK and there is no record in the available source of any retraction or disciplinary action arising from the post.
Richard Tice dismisses many degrees as worthless and suggests apprenticeships in dodgy crypto and money laundering
Category: inflammatory language
Richard Tice, Reform UK co-leader, spoke at a press conference in Enfield and dismissed many university degrees as worthless, saying around 80% of students had underperformed or wasted their time. He criticised modern languages and history, said learning to think critically was overrated, and suggested apprenticeships in areas he described as dodgy crypto deals, money laundering and offshore accounts. Suella Braverman spoke alongside Tice and set out plans to restrict non-vocational degrees and promote apprenticeships as an alternative to higher education. Broadcasters pointed out that student loans are counted on the government balance sheet; there is no record in this source of a correction, apology or disciplinary action by Reform UK in response to Tice's remarks.
Richard Tice defends suspension of senior activist
Category: other
Richard Tice defended the suspension of senior activist Tim Montgomerie from Reform UK after Montgomerie criticised Nigel Farage’s decision not to attend his victory count. Tice made the remarks at a press conference in Enfield, north London, where he was unveiling the party’s apprenticeships policy and said internal disagreements should be kept behind closed doors. Montgomerie, a high-profile activist who had defected from the Conservatives and previously posed with Farage, was informed earlier this week of his suspension. Tice, who is deputy leader and the party’s business spokesperson, said Reform UK was not too thin-skinned to take criticism and defended the party’s approach; the decision came amid wider splits in the party over comments by home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.
Richard Tice told people to 'enjoy' extreme heat at a press conference
Category: inflammatory language
Richard Tice, Reform UK deputy leader and MP for East Midlands, told a press conference that people should "enjoy" this summer's extreme heat and said that warmer conditions could improve English wine. He framed the remarks as a rebuttal to what he described as doom and gloom about the weather. Bridget Phillipson, Labour party chair, said he should apologise to firefighters who had been battling wildfires that forced evacuations and destroyed homes. Reform did not respond to a request for comment and Labour released video material juxtaposing his words with footage of wildfire damage to highlight the remarks and call for an apology.
Richard Tice repeats 'credible threat' claim and backs Farage's security
Category: inflammatory language
On 14 August 2026, speaking to LBC, Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice repeated that Nigel Farage had faced a "credible threat" at the Clacton by-election count on 13 August and said he trusted Farage's security team more than Essex Police. His comments came in interviews the morning after Farage's victory in the Clacton by-election. Essex Police denied making any such warning to any candidate, and the remarks formed part of a wider dispute between Reform figures and the force. Lee Anderson made similar comments to the BBC, and the episode came as the Parliamentary Standards inquiry into an undeclared £5m gift related to Farage was reopened, contributing to tensions within the party.
Richard Tice defends unlicensed Farage Fest rally
Category: inappropriate behaviour
Richard Tice defended a victory rally for Nigel Farage held at Great Oakley airfield in Tendring, Essex, which did not have a Late Temporary Event Notice. He described the gathering as a private celebration and dismissed criticism while hundreds attended and the site featured live music, alcohol and a Ferris wheel. Tendring District Council had refused to grant a Late Temporary Event Notice because the application was not made in time and said it is investigating whether the event was unlawful. Reform has said no rules were broken and that a licence was applied for on a precautionary basis; the council said that if it decides to prosecute the organiser could face a fine or a custodial sentence and it will announce next steps in due course.
Richard Tice seeks to unmask journalists' sources and posts hostile social media message
Category: intimidation bullying
On 11 August 2026 Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, sent legal correspondence to the Guardian seeking disclosure of documents he says could identify reporters' sources and has filed proceedings against the National Crime Agency. He also posted on social media criticising journalists, saying "Lefty journos... They've got war." The move drew condemnation from Labour chair Bridget Phillipson and other politicians and campaigners who described it as an attempt to silence the free press and intimidate reporters. Tice and Reform UK deny any wrongdoing; the Guardian said it would oppose attempts to unmask sources, and the actions form part of wider scrutiny over the party's funding and transactions reported to the NCA.
Richard Tice seeks disclosure of reporter’s sources via legal letters
Category: abuse of power
On 11 August 2026 Reform deputy leader Richard Tice instructed lawyers to write to a national newspaper and directly to its city editor, seeking disclosure of documents that could identify the paper’s sources in reporting on financial transactions referred to the National Crime Agency. Tice has also issued proceedings against the NCA, alleging the information could only have come from an officer within the agency. Former culture secretary John Whittingdale and press freedom groups criticised the move as an attempt to intimidate journalists, and the newspaper said it will resist efforts to unmask sources. The legal actions come amid wider scrutiny of Tice and Reform UK’s finances; the challenges and related inquiries are ongoing.