Reclaim party's accounts failure branded 'inept' amid doubt over Laurence Fox's political vehicle's future

10 January 2024, 12:36

By Henry Riley

@HenryRiley1

A top tax lawyer has labelled Laurence Fox's political party as "inept" after The Reclaim Party Ltd failed to submit accounts by the August 31st deadline.

The Reclaim Party was formed by 'actor' Laurence Fox, alongside businessman Jeremy Hosking, back in October 2020 and currently does not have any elected officials at any level of government in the UK.

But there are now suggestions that the political party may be starting to wind down after the private company 'Reclaim Party Ltd', which lists Laurence Fox as one of its directors, failed to file its accounts by the registered deadline - meaning the last accounts recorded by the party covered the period until 30th November 2021.

Dan Neidle, who is the founder of Tax Policy Associates, told LBC "what concerns me is political parties not following the law, not following the basic requirement that they file accounts. For this company those accounts would probably have taken about 15 minutes to draw up"

"I doubt they're hiding anything, I expect they're just inept, but really they should get onto it"

The apparent accounting mistake by The Reclaim Party Ltd meant that Companies House had started the process of writing the company off, only before an 'objection' was received by the Registrar on the 12th of December - meaning that the process is 'temporarily suspended'.

The political party does appear to have future ambitions, though, with leader Laurence Fox posting on X earlier this month "I am giving very serious thought to running for @MayorofLondon again. I’m not going to stand by and watch the city I live in and love be destroyed before our eyes... Watch this space".

Mr Fox, who stood against Sadiq Khan in 2021 and came 6th with 1.9% of the vote, will be hoping to be the first Reclaim politician elected at any level of government.

The party was previously represented by Andrew Bridgen in the House of Commons after the former Conservative MP defected to Reclaim. But the MP for North West Leicestershire only lasted in the party for just over 6 months, resigning in December citing a "difference in the direction of the party" and now sits as an Independent.

Similarly, the party also enjoyed a seat on Market Drayton Town Council when the former Conservative Councillor Anthony Allen defected to the party - however the elected official eventually resigned his position altogether a matter of months later.

Dan Neidle said the uncertainty regarding The Reclaim Party and associated organisations was unclear. He told LBC "Exactly what each of them do ain't clear, but it looks from the privacy notice on the website that it's the Reclaim Party Ltd that owns the membership list... so if the Reclaim Party Ltd was executed by Companies House they would lose their membership list which can't be a good thing for a political party".

In terms of what happens next, Mr Neidle said that failure to file accounts means an organisation can be fined, it can be an offence and can lead to Companies House automatically striking the firm off "which has started to happen here".

There had been a suggestion that Reclaim could work closely together in an electoral pact with other parties including Reform, UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but reports suggest that idea is finished. Laurence Fox recently alleged on X that the SDP and Reform had approached a financial backer for Reclaim asking him to stand aside.

A source close to the Reform Party told LBC "It's sad, but Laurence seems to be fast becoming an echo in a vacuum."

The Reclaim Party were approached for comment.