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 11-20 of 30)
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.
Tice said he had been treated 'worse than a paedophile, a rapist or a murderer'
Category: inflammatory language
Location: Times Radio
On 6 August 2026, in an interview broadcast on Times Radio, Richard Tice said the BBC and the Metropolitan Police had treated him "worse than a paedophile, a rapist or a murderer". The remark was made while he was discussing the police investigation into donations made to Reform UK and the media coverage of it. The comparison was widely criticised. The underlying donations matter remains an active investigation with no charges brought.
Sources: https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/reform-richard-tice-nigel-farage-donations-b3029163.html https://leftfootforward.org/2026/08/richard-tice-makes-bizarre-claim-he-has-been-treated-worse-than-a-paedophile-rapist-or-murderer-by-media-and-police/
Richard Tice under standards investigation over possible failure to declare interest
Category: undisclosed interest
The parliamentary standards watchdog opened an investigation on 28 July 2026 into whether Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, failed to declare a relevant interest under rule six of the MPs' code of conduct. The probe relates to whether he should have referenced his register of interests at the start of a debate on UK democracy and Israeli influence, and was listed on the commissioner's website. Tice said the inquiry concerned a complaint by an "anti-Israel lobby group" and posted on social media that coverage of the matter was "garbage", describing the complainant as antisemitic and anti-Israel without naming the organisation. The investigation is ongoing and Tice remains deputy leader of Reform UK while it continues.
Reform withdrew sworn denials given in Tice's name in High Court data case
Category: other
Good Law Project brought a group data-rights claim in the High Court against Reform UK Party Ltd over the party's handling of voters' personal data. On 19 June 2026 the court rejected Reform's attempt to strike the claim out. On 15 July 2026 Byline Times reported that Reform had withdrawn formal denials filed in Richard Tice's name, having previously denied using the NationBuilder platform and denied any aim of profiling every UK voter. Good Law Project's Jolyon Maugham accused the party of being cavalier with the truth. The litigation is ongoing and there has been no judgment on the substance of the claim.
Sources: https://bylinetimes.com/2026/07/15/reform-withdrew-sworn-denials-from-richard-tice-in-good-law-project-data-privacy-case/ https://goodlawproject.org/high-court-rejects-reforms-bid-to-throw-out-our-challenge/ https://goodlawproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Good-Law-Project-Ltd-v-Reform-UK-Party-Ltd-2026-EWHC-1458-KB.pdf
Met investigates Reform donations made through Tice's company Britain Means Business
Category: financial conduct concern
In July 2026 the Metropolitan Police opened an investigation into two donations of £250,000 made to Reform UK ahead of the 2024 general election through Britain Means Business, a company linked to Richard Tice. The money originated with Fiona Cottrell, mother of George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and former Nigel Farage aide. On 29 July 2026 the Guardian reported that George Cottrell had transferred roughly $2m to his mother's account in tranches shortly before the donations were made. Payments connected to Tice's organisations were flagged to the National Crime Agency in Suspicious Activity Reports. Tice has denied any impropriety, says Fiona Cottrell is a permissible donor, and wrote to the NCA's director-general asking it to investigate whether his private financial information had been leaked to the media. In August 2026 he and Farage confirmed they are suing the NCA over the alleged leak. Separately, a Liberal Democrat complaint about a loan of roughly £78,100 from George Cottrell to Tice's company Tisun Investment was declined by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on 29 July 2026. No charges have been brought and no finding of wrongdoing has been made against Tice.
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/09/police-investigate-500000-reform-donations-from-mother-of-fraudster-who-backed-farage https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv4r5g55do https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/29/george-cottrell-transferred-2m-mother-beforer-reform-uk-donations https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/29/richard-tice-reform-loan-george-cottrell-investigation-standards-watchdog https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvw7xyjz8eo
Tice faces legal complaint over claims about Lebanese police training contract
Category: other
Location: House of Commons
Richard Tice has repeatedly attacked a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office contract with Siren Associates Ltd to train Lebanese police, and led a Commons adjournment debate on the company's FCDO contracts on 2 July 2026 after complaining that written questions had gone unanswered. On 3 July 2026 The National reported that his claims about the company had resulted in a legal complaint against him. The allegations Tice has made about the company are his own assertions and have not been established.
Sources: https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/07/03/lebanese-police-training-complaint-lands-reforms-richard-tice-with-lawsuit/ https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2026-07-02/commons/commons-chamber/siren-associates-ltd-fcdo-contracts
Tice sued for libel by Dale Vince over Hamas tweet
Category: other
Location: Court of Appeal, London
The businessman and Labour donor Dale Vince sued Richard Tice for libel over a post on X concerning Hamas. At a preliminary hearing, Mr Justice Pepperall ruled that the post meant Vince supported Hamas, but that this was an expression of opinion rather than a statement of fact. Vince appealed against that ruling. On 1 July 2026 the Court of Appeal, sitting as Lewison, Coulson and Warby LJJ, dismissed the appeal in Vince v Tice [2026] EWCA Civ 844 and upheld the finding that the post was an expression of opinion.
Sources: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Vince-v-Tice-Judgment.pdf https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Vince-v-Tice-Press-Summary.pdf https://www.5rb.com/dale-vince-opinion-meaning-appeal-dismissed/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/dale-vince-hamas-shaun-bailey-high-court-guido-fawkes-b2645025.html
Tice's company accused of failing to pay tax on dividends routed to his Jersey trust
Category: financial conduct concern
On 11 and 12 April 2026 The Times and the Guardian reported that Quidnet, a property company associated with Richard Tice, had failed to pay 20% withholding tax on dividends before profits passed to Tice and to a family trust registered in Jersey. The Times put the figure at about £91,000. The independent research group Tax Policy Associates calculated the company-side sum at roughly £120,000 and, in a further report on 18 April 2026, said accounts had wrongly claimed about £98,000 of tax exemptions on approximately £518,000 of payments. Tice denied wrongdoing. He posted that "overall, HMRC received the correct amount of tax due" and described the reporting as a smear, later telling LBC the claims were "riddled with inaccuracies" and part of a "smear campaign". Reform UK described the dividend matter as a minor administrative error. No finding of unlawful conduct has been made against Tice, and no HMRC penalty or investigation outcome has been reported.
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/12/richard-tice-reform-uk-quidnet-reit-tax-dividends https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/04/11/richard-tice-company-failed-to-pay-120k-tax-dividends/ https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/04/18/richard-tice-quidnet-reit-corporation-tax/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8x7yj99jrwo https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/richard-tice-slams-smear-campaign-5HjdYCc_2/
Tice's offshore Jersey trust and his position that people should pay as little tax as legally possible
Category: financial conduct concern
A Mirror investigation published in August 2024 reported that Richard Tice set up a family trust in Jersey more than three decades ago and built an offshore-linked property portfolio. The Jersey trust later featured in reporting on dividends paid out by his property company Quidnet. In March 2026, after The Sunday Times reported that Quidnet had used real estate investment trust status to pay little or no corporation tax between 2018 and 2021, the Labour Party chair Anna Turley wrote to HMRC asking it to investigate. Tice said he had followed the rules. Asked around 16 March 2026 whether people should pay as little tax as legally possible, he said they should.
Sources: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/reform-uks-richard-tice-piled-33441470 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyz0ep9g8lo https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/richard-tice-tax-reform-uk-b2939600.html https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/reform-deputy-leader-richard-tice-tax-5r93t6dg8
Tice pictured with 'Suck it up' T-shirt mocking Kent council row
Category: inappropriate behaviour
Location: Kent
On 29 January 2026 the BBC reported that Richard Tice had been pictured holding a T-shirt reading "Suck it up", accompanied by the name "Linden" and a kiss. The wording referred to leaked footage, reported in October 2025, in which the Reform leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, told a colleague to "suck it up" during internal disputes at the authority. Several Reform councillors were suspended or expelled in the aftermath of the leak. An independent member of the council described Tice's gesture as "wholly unprofessional and degrading".
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mkyxydzydo https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/18/suck-it-up-leaked-video-exposes-bitter-infighting-at-reform-uks-flagship-kent-council https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgkenn4r15o