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

Richard Tice is the Member of Parliament for Boston and Skegness, having been elected in the 2024 general election after defeating the incumbent Conservative MP. He has held various roles within Reform UK, including Deputy Leader since 2024 and spokesperson for Business, Trade and Energy since February 2026. Tice previously served as the chairman of the party and was the leader from March 2021 until June 2024, when he was succeeded by Nigel Farage. Before his political career, he was involved in the property sector and was a prominent figure in pro-Brexit campaigns, having founded the Brexit Party in 2019.

Recorded incidents (showing 11-14 of 14)

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.

Richard Tice refuses to apologise for calling Nigel Farage's classmates 'liars'

Category: inflammatory language

On 10 December 2025 Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr that it was "nonsense" he had made Nigel Farage's life harder by calling Farage's former classmates "liars" after historical allegations of racist behaviour. He said he did not regret the comments, refused to apologise when asked, and described the accusations as "made-up twaddle". The remarks were made during a live broadcast interview. The claims relate to allegations by more than 20 people that Farage engaged in racist or antisemitic behaviour at Dulwich College decades earlier, including Peter Ettedgui's claim that Farage told him "Hitler was right." Tice said Farage later produced counter-evidence, reiterated on BBC Radio 4 that telling a Jewish classmate "Hitler was right" would be racial abuse but called the specific allegations fabricated, and criticised a previous Emma Barnett interview; no apology from Tice or party disciplinary action has been reported.

Richard Tice said there is 'over-diagnosis' of SEND children and called ear defenders 'insane'

Category: discriminatory remark

On 17 November 2025 Richard Tice, Reform UK deputy leader and the MP for Boston and Skegness, gave a speech and a Q&A at Westminster in which he said there has been an "over-diagnosis" of children with special educational needs and disabilities. He described the sight of children wearing ear defenders in classrooms as "insane", suggested some parents were exploiting the SEND system to obtain VAT exemptions or motability vehicles, criticised formal labelling, and questioned the use of medication for some young people. Education and disability organisations including the NEU, Sense, the National Autistic Society and ADHD UK criticised his remarks as inaccurate, stigmatising and, in one case, "lies". Tice said he must not "generalise" and acknowledged there are cases where medication is appropriate while arguing there is over-diagnosis and over-medication; he remains Reform UK's deputy leader and MP for Boston and Skegness.

Questions over deputy leader’s company using REIT to reduce corporation tax

Category: financial conduct concern

It was reported that Quidnet Reit Ltd, a property company associated with Richard Tice, operated as a real estate investment trust between 2018 and 2021 and paid little or no corporation tax on multimillion-pound property profits for much of that period. Company accounts were said to show net assets of about £33 million, ownership of multiple industrial estates and recorded profits of around £8.1 million, with analysts calculating roughly £3.05 million of those profits would have been liable to corporation tax at 19% absent the REIT exemption, equating to about £580,000 in tax not paid by the company. It was also reported that Tice retained over 90% control through connected entities, listed the company on the Guernsey exchange to qualify for REIT status, and revoked that status in August 2021 after a three-year grace period. He has defended the arrangements as fully lawful and said efforts were made to attract external investors, while tax experts characterised the structure as potentially "highly aggressive tax planning" and suggested HMRC anti-abuse rules might apply.