Product Code Database
Benyamin Naeem Habib (born 7 June 1965) is a British-Pakistani businessman and right-wing politician who has been the leader of Advance UK since its foundation in June 2025. He is also the CEO of First Property Group, a commercial property investment company.
Previously, Habib was Deputy Leader of Reform UK from October 2023 to July 2024. Habib was replaced by Richard Tice following the 2024 general election. Habib was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from July 2019 until the Brexit in January 2020. Prior to this, he had donated to the Conservative Party.
He moved to England with his parents in 1979 and attended Rugby School, a boarding school in Warwickshire. He later became Head Boy and president of the Rugbeian Society.
He studied at Robinson College, Cambridge, from 1984 where he was awarded a Boxing Blue.
In 1994 Habib entered the properties business as the managing director of the private property development company JKL Property.
In 2000, he founded a commercial property fund investment company, First Property Group plc. The company, where he serves as chief executive officer, operates in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Romania. In 2024, Habib ordered a Issued shares worth £3m after the firm reported a pre-tax loss of £4.41m.
In July 2025, the Financial Times reported that Habib had purchased £80,000 worth of shares, increasing his holding in the company to nearly 17 per cent.
During the 2019 European parliament elections, Habib ran as the Electoral list for the Reform UK in the London constituency, and was elected as one of its two MEPs in London. Habib sat with the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, was delegated for relations with the countries of South Asia.
According to Transparency International, Habib was the wealthiest MEP in the Ninth European Parliament based annual earnings from his other job. He declared €960,000 annual earnings from his company, First Property Group.
In January 2020 Habib voted in favour of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which included the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was ratified by the EU Parliament.
In February 2020 Habib described the Protocol as being a unique advantage to Northern Ireland, as it could create a tiger economy. He also urged Unionists to 'make it work for its own great benefit and that of the United Kingdom'.
In June 2021, the High Court of Northern Ireland (HCNI) in Belfast dismissed the legal challenge on several grounds, including its conflict with the Acts of Union 1800 and thus unconstitutional. The HCNI ruled that although the Protocol conflicted with the Acts of Union the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 also has constitutional effect and had implied repeal aspects of the Acts. The court also rejected arguments based on the Northern Ireland Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law. Likewise, the court rejected a challenge to the Regulations, which provided that the consent mechanism in the Protocol was not to be subject to the cross-community voting rules in the Assembly. On 14 March 2022, that decision was affirmed by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, with the judgment making reference to the 'obvious inconsistency' of Habib first voting in favour of the Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol, as stated in paragraph 11 of his sworn affidavit, but then subsequently calling for a repudiation.
On 30 November 2022, it was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. On 8 February 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge. On 21 March 2023, Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Caine (responding to a written question by Kate Hoey) asserted that the UK Government had spent £196,567 on legal fees associated with defending the challenges against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In April 2024, Habib faced criticism over remarks he made during an interview with Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk TV, where he suggested that migrants crossing the English Channel by boat should be left to drown. Habib defended his comments, as he was asked about migrants that slashed their boats, causing them to sink. Habib stated: 'If people are going to repeatedly throw themselves in the channel and refuse the help of our specialised force in order to get back in the boats and go on to France – of course their lives are going to be in danger.'
Habib quit Reform UK on 28 November 2024, after a reported fallout with Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf. He cited concerns over the party's structure as well as 'fundamental differences' over Brexit, and disagreements over immigration, with Habib in favour of mass deportations.
In March 2025, Habib called Reform MP Rupert Lowe's suspension 'an injustice'. Habib accused Farage and Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf of 'trumping up complaints against' Lowe to oust him after Elon Musk suggested Lowe should become Leader of Reform UK instead of Farage. Habib called for both men's resignations.
On 30 June 2025, Habib announced that he had launched a political party, Advance UK. He aims to reach 30,000 members. The party has the same legal identity as the Integrity Party, with the limited company previously named as the Integrity Party having been renamed as the Advance UK Party Limited.
|
|
