We need to talk about Richard Tice
We need to talk about Richard Tice, though to be honest it's a conversation I’d rather avoid, this twat gets far too many column inch's and airtime to peddle his bullshit as it is. A key player in the British populist far-right, he's the very model of a public school prick with the slimy charm of Bryan Ferry moonlighting as a used car salesman. With the skill of a conman honed in his trade, Tice has managed to seduce the hard of thinking with his corrosive brand grubby politics.
Richard Tice has never had to worry about a mortgage or the cost of a pint, yet somehow, he’s managed to convince a sizeable chunk of the British public that him and Farage are the working-class heroes they’ve been waiting for. As deputy leader of the Reform UK party ltd, Tice’s rise to prominence is nothing more than a cynical bid to capitalise on the chaos of Brexit and the deepening mistrust in the political establishment. But his so-called "outsider" credentials are more questionable than his ever-changing political allegiances. His politics are little more than a mask for his true agenda: personal gain and a desperate need to prove he’s someone worth listening to. Behind the bravado and the rhetoric lies nothing but the same old elitist drivel, dressed up in a new, shiny suit. It’s astonishing how he’s managed to convince so many that he’s anything other than a rich boy with a deep sense of entitlement and a questionable moral compass. To be absolutely clear, Tice is not the shining beacon of hope he frames himslef as for a more prosperous, fairer Britain. Quite the opposite, in fact. Tice, the self-proclaimed champion of the "people's revolution," is little more than a cynical opportunist, trying to push a far-right agenda under the guise of patriotism and reform. With his slick rhetoric and undelivered promises, he's quickly emerging as the poster child for the kind of shallow populism that has poisoned British politics, while serving up policies that will only deepen inequality and erode the social fabric of our nation. It’s time we seriously questioned whether we really want someone like him anywhere near power.
Tice’s journey into politics didn’t come from the school of hard knocks, it started in Uppingham School, one of England’s most exclusive and expensive schools, and his worldview didn't come from the University of Life, it came from the property development and consulting industries, where he rubbed shoulders with the sort of financial elites that he now claims to despise. It's not hard to see what he is. His time at Uppingham (alumni include Sir Malcolm Campbell, Rick Stein, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Agnew) would likely have shaped much of his elitist mindset. It’s not hard to speculate based on the general culture of a place like that and what we know of his later career what a little shit he no doubt was at school. Given his later self-presentation as an entitled, slick operator, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine him thriving in a place where he was taught that the rules were for other people, while the elite get to do whatever they please. He'll have rubbed shoulders with future power-brokers, developing an understanding of the world in which he could play the game without consequence. The sort of over-entitled turd that three grand a term churns out. And he plays the part like it was written for him. Which of course it was.
Unsurprisingly, Tice started off as a Tory boy and became to Donor to the Tory Party before getting disillusioned with it. After a stint with UKIP, Tice took the reins of the Brexit Party in 2019, a vessel built on Farage's brand of nationalist rhetoric and discontent. The Brexit Party was little more than a protest movement with no policies, yet Tice’s leadership gave it the kind of media coverage that suggested it was something more. Under his guidance, the party capitalised on the Brexit chaos and the resentment directed at the mainstream parties. What it was though, was a major player in Farage’s far-right movement, tied to those who push an agenda of anti-establishment and anti-immigration with an undercurrent of Islamophobia, but never quite manage to break free of the very elite institutions they claim to loathe. Tice didn’t stop there, though. His big idea was to rebrand the Brexit Party as Reform UK, as if slapping a fresh coat of paint on a rusting car somehow makes it roadworthy again. His vision for the country? A free-market utopia where the rich get richer and the poor are told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Under his leadership, Reform UK has fully embraced the tired rhetoric of the far-right, parroting the same recycled lines about shrinking the state, cutting taxes for the wealthy, and tightening immigration controls. This is a party that claims to champion the common man, yet its policies only serve to entrench the privileges of the few.
And this is where this industrial scale wankspanner becomes dangerous: His political ambitions aren’t just about reforming the UK; they’re about aligning himself with the global elite. Take Elon Musk and Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock), for instance. Musk’s own brand of libertarian politics, which often includes calls for less regulation, more free-market economics, and a distinct disdain for government intervention absolutely mirrors Tice’s. So much so that it is expected he's going to pour money into the fighting fund of the party. The difference being thatTice isn't making Nazi salutes ... yet. Musk’s influence in pushing for deregulation in various sectors has aligned well with the policies Reform UK advocates. In fact, it’s not far-fetched to say that Tice has adopted some of Musk’s ideological playbook, only with a British accent. It’s also worth noting that Musk was a vocal supporter of Brexit. Behind all the populist rhetoric, Tice’s politics appear more aligned with the interests of tech billionaires like Musk, who have little to no concern for the struggles of ordinary working people. Tice’s policies on free-market capitalism and corporate deregulation also closely echo the very economic philosophy that Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, has championed for decades. Fink’s approach to finance is a classic example of the kind of neoliberal ideology that Tice pushes with his calls for tax cuts for the wealthy and a reduction in the size of the state. In fact, both Tice and Fink have a mutual interest in dismantling what they see as the “burdensome” regulatory frameworks that are designed to protect ordinary citizens from the worst excesses of capitalism. While Tice may talk a good game about taking on the establishment, his policies are in absolutely in step with the very people who have made billions by rigging the system in their favour.
We can’t talk about this prick without talking about immigration. Tice has made a name for himself as a vocal critic of immigration, framing it as a threat to British identity and social cohesion. The reality, however, is that his position is little more than a dog-whistle to the far-right, stoking division and racism under the guise of national pride. His hardline rhetoric feeds into dangerous nationalist tropes, painting immigrants as the enemy, all while ignoring the bigger issues that actually affect working-class communities. The Reform Party's recruitment of Gammon poster-boy Lee Anderson as an every-man for the working-class shows just how much contempt they have for the working-class and how off-piste they are thinking that he's an average representation. His stance on immigration plays into the same divisive narratives peddled by the likes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Marine Le Pen in France, who have long used immigration as a scapegoat for social and economic woes, all while reinforcing their grip on power. And then there’s his undying commitment to Brexit. Tice’s politics are steeped in his obsession with the UK’s departure from the EU, as if leaving the European Union would somehow have restored Britain to its former glory.
In a beautiful contradiction to his Party's position on Family values, together with him framing himself as one of the lads down the pub, a moral guardian, a hater of Immigration, a respector of the rule of law and flag-shagging patriot: when this industrial grade spam isn't in his constituency or Westminster, he jets off to live with his partner: right-wing shill and marriage wrecker, Isabel Oakeshott at her ex-pat home in the tax free Islamic Emirate of Dubai. And she went to the same school as the King. It's a beautiful story of a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps after slumming it at a top school and and then, after packing up the silver spoon he was born with, traded his wife of decades in for a younger model that shares his warped view of the world. A classic story of rich to riches. They truly don't spoil two houses.
The consequences of Brexit, however, have been far from glorious: economic uncertainty, trade disruptions, and a UK that’s rapidly losing influence on the global stage. Yet Tice presses on, unphased by the mess he helped create, with all the foresight of a man who’s just realised he’s been sold a lemon but is too proud to admit it. Tice’s true loyalties lie with the very financial elite he claims to oppose. The fact that he’s courted support from far-right figures and think tanks, including groups like the TaxPayers' Alliance, which advocates for corporate tax cuts and the dismantling of social welfare, shows that Tice’s agenda isn’t about reforming the system; it’s about protecting the interests of those who already benefit from it. Far from being a man of the people, Tice is just another Tory Boy trying in an expensive ill fitting suit trying to disguise himself as a champion of the working class.
Tice has embraced an ideology that frames himself as the acceptable face of policies once attributed to Mosley, Tindall & Griffin
Reform UK Ltd is nothing more than a vehicle for Tice to push his far-right agenda, all while lining the pockets of the very elites he claims to oppose. So, the question isn’t whether we need to talk about Richard Tice, the real question is why anyone’s still listening to the fucker at all and why is he and Farage getting disproportionate levels of airtime in the press and on TV. If you need more evidence of what a POS this man is, let’s not forget, Tice threw Wupert Lowe under the bus without a second thought when it suited him. Lowe, a person who to be frank is very difficult to feel sorry for, helped get Reform UK off the ground, and found himself discarded like a dirty tissue once Tice realised he needed to shore up his own power. With friends like Tice, who needs enemies? Tice’s loyalty is as shallow as a puddle after a light drizzle, if you're not useful to him, you’re nothing more than a stepping stone to be tossed aside without a second thought.
At the end of the day, Richard is of course a dick. He is nothing more than a snake oil salesman peddling the same tired, empty promises as Farage, while lining his pockets and boosting his elite connections. The two of them are just two cheeks of the same establishment arse, dressing up their self-serving politics in populist rhetoric to con the gammon into believing they're fighting for the little guy. The truth is, they’re exploiting the working class, peddling divisive, far-right nonsense, and masquerading as outsiders when they’re as entrenched in the system as anyone. And frankly, the racist working-class mugs that fall for this grubby charade deserve then. Tice’s politics aren't about reform, they’re about power, profit, and a good deal for the people at the top. The rest of us? Well of course we're just collateral damage in the grift.
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