Benyamin Naeem Habib (born 7 June 1965) is a British-Pakistani businessman and politician who has been the leader of Advance UK, a British far-right political party, since its foundation in June 2025. He is also the chief executive officer of First Property Group, a property investment company, and the chairman of Great British PAC, a pressure group.
Previously, Habib was Deputy Leader of Reform UK from March 2023 to July 2024. Habib was replaced by Richard Tice following the 2024 general election. Habib was also an elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from July 2019 until the UK left the European Union in January 2020. Prior to this, he had donated to the Conservative Party.
Benyamin Naeem Habib was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 7 June 1965 to a Pakistani father and an English mother. His maternal grandfather fought at the Battle of the Somme; his paternal grandfather was born on a farm in Punjab.
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 natural sciences at Robinson College, Cambridge, from 1984 where he was awarded a Boxing Blue.
After graduating at university, Habib became an analyst at the corporate finance department at the Lehman Brothers in 1987. In 1989, he was appointed as the finance director of the insurance broker PWS Holdings.
In 1994 Habib became managing director of a private property development company, JKL Property. In 2000, he set up a commercial property fund investment company, First Property Group plc. The company, for which he is chief executive officer, operates in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Romania. In 2024, Habib ordered a share issue worth ã3m after the firm reported a pre-tax loss of ã4.41m.
In July 2025, the Financial Times reported that Habib had purchased ã80,000 worth of shares, increasing his holding in the company to nearly 17 per cent.
Habib was a Conservative Party voter and donor until 2019. He supported Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum, arguing that the UK would benefit from trade opportunities, regained sovereignty, and control over immigration. He supported a No-deal Brexit which reportedly would have been favourable to his business.
During the 2019 European parliament elections, Habib ran as the first of six candidates for the Brexit Party 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 on annual earnings from his other job. He declared â¬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 February 2021, Habib, together with TUV party leader Jim Allister, and Baroness Hoey, applied for a judicial review of the Northern Ireland Protocol. They were later joined in their litigation by Arlene Foster, the incumbent First Minister of Northern Ireland; David Trimble, the inaugural First Minister; and Steve Aiken, leader of the UUP. The main cause of their legal action was to scrutinise the legality and constitutionality of the Protocol, with regard to their claim that it, and related regulations were incompatibile with the Acts of Union 1800.
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 implicitly repealed 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 ã196,567 on legal fees associated with defending the challenges against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In October 2023 he was appointed co-deputy leader of Reform UK by then leader Richard Tice. He served alongside David Bull, who had been deputy since 2021. At the same time, he became the party's Brexit and the Union spokesman. He was the party's candidate for the Wellingborough by-election in February 2024. Habib finished third of eleven candidates, with 13% of the vote, the party's best result at a by-election. He was the Reform candidate for Wellingborough and Rushden constituency at the 2024 general election where he came third with 21.5% of the vote.
In April 2024, Habib was criticised for 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 â of course their lives are going to be in danger.'
On 11 July 2024, following Habib's failure to win his seat as an MP at the general election, he was replaced as Deputy Leader by Richard Tice, and said he was "considering [his] position more generally in light of this change".
In September 2024, he criticised Reform UK's new constitution, saying that it was undemocratic, and challenged whether it had been drafted by legal experts.
Habib was appointed as chairman of Great British PAC in September 2024.
On 28 November 2024, Habib said he was leaving Reform UK citing "fundamental differences" with Farage over Brexit and concerns about the party's structure. He also said there were "ideological issues" as Habib, unlike Farage, supported "mass deportations". In January 2025, Farage responded to a question from Nick Ferrari on LBC about the impact that Habib's departure could have, saying "none whatsoever".
In March 2025, Habib called Reform MP Rupert Lowe's suspension 'an injustice'. Habib accused Farage and the Chairman of Reform UK, 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 the resignations of both men.
In April 2025, Habib became the director of the Integrity Party, an organisation founded by Christian Russell and Richard Shaw in late 2024. On 30 June 2025, he launched the party as Advance UK, and in August gained the support of both Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk. The party is positioned to the right of Reform, and has since attracted over 37,000 members, in addition to 10 local councillors through defections. Habib claims to have donated ã100,000 to his party.
In February 2026, he stated that he would consider merging Advance UK with Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain. Searchlight Magazine later reported that this had fallen apart, with Habib calling Lowe a "dictator" and accusing the party of having gone "full tilt racist".
Habib is a baptised but non-practising Christian. He was baptised in preparation for his marriage to his Christian wife. Habib describes himself as being brought up with a "soft Christian upbringing" and stated in an interview that he has "never been a Muslim" despite his Pakistani heritage.