Ben Habib

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Ben Habib
Member of the European Parliament
for London
In office
2 July 2019[1] – 31 January 2020
Preceded byGerard Batten
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1965-06-07) 7 June 1965 (age 56)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
NationalityBritish
Political partyBrexit (since 2019)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (before 2019)
EducationRugby School
Alma materRobinson College, Cambridge
ProfessionPolitician, businessman

Benyamin Naeem Habib (born 7 June 1965) is a British businessman and former politician. He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He remained in the role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Habib is the chief executive of First Property Group, a commercial property investment and fund management company.

Early life, education and career[]

Benyamin Naeem Habib was born on 7 June 1965 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.[2][3] His father is Pakistani.[4] He moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1979 and his early education was at the independent Rugby School.[5][6] Habib is a former president of its alumni association, the Rugbeian Society.[7][8] He then attended Robinson College, Cambridge where he studied Natural Sciences.[9] After graduating, Habib became an analyst in the corporate finance department at former financial services firm Lehman Brothers.[10] After this, he was appointed finance director at insurance broker PWS Holdings.[11]

In 1994, Habib entered the properties business as the managing director of private property development company, JKL Property, before starting his own property fund company First Property Group plc six years later.[11] The company, for which he is the chief executive, operates in the UK, Poland, and Romania.[12][13]

Political career[]

In the 2019 European parliamentary election, Habib stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the London constituency. He was previously a Conservative Party voter and donor.[5][14] He was first on his party's list, and was elected as one of its two MEPs in the constituency.[15][16] He supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum and argued the UK's trade opportunities would be better outside of the European Union (EU), that being part of the EU meant that the UK had ceded sovereignty, and that there needed to be greater control of immigration.[10][17] He had also discussed in interviews how uncertainty around Brexit could be an opportunity for profit for his business.[18][19] He was a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and part of the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia.[2] According to Transparency International, Habib was the richest MEP elected in the Ninth European Parliament based on annual earnings from his second job. He declared €960,000 annual earnings from his company, First Property Group.[20]

On 19 February 2021, Habib together with Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, and Baroness Hoey, applied for leave for a judicial review of the Northern Ireland Protocol, part of the Withdrawal Agreement. They were later joined in their litigation by Arlene Foster, First Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Trimble, Nobel peace prize winning architect of the Belfast Agreement; and Steve Aiken, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. [21]The action contends that the Protocol breaches, amongst other things, Article 6 of the Act of Union 1800 and Article 10 of the Withdrawal Agreement Act 2018.[22] On 30 June 2021 the high court in Belfast has thrown out this legal challenge to the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol. [23]

References[]

  1. ^ "After the European Parliament elections – what happens next?". European Parliament. 13 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Ben Habib". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Benyamin Naeem Habib". Sutton Council. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  4. ^ Payne, Adam (6 May 2019). "The Brexit Party promises Theresa May's Conservatives 'a really good kicking' in the European elections". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Lea, Robert (17 June 2019). "Off to Brussels with a Brexit message". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.(subscription required)
  6. ^ "First Property placement". Rugby School. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Floreat 2014" (PDF). Rugby School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Alumni Community". Rugby School. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Annual Appeal". Robinson College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Brooks, Charlie (16 June 2016). "'Immigration is like a Ponzi scheme' Charlie Brooks meets Telegraph reader Ben Habib ahead of next week's European Union referendum". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Profile". Information Management Network. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  12. ^ "First Property raises funds to gain from post-Brexit property weakness". Reuters. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Ben Habib". First Property Group. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  14. ^ Mason, Rowena (18 April 2019). "Nigel Farage has near-total control of Brexit party, constitution suggests". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  15. ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for London". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  16. ^ "European elections 2019: Lib Dems make London MEP gains". BBC News. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  17. ^ "EU is making a free trade deal difficult, Brexit Party candidate says". CNBC. 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  18. ^ Singh, Arj (12 April 2019). "Exclusive: Candidate In Farage's Brexit Party Is Profiting From EU Exit Uncertainty". Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  19. ^ Evans, Greg (17 July 2019). "Brexit Party MEP mansplains the economy to Emily Maitlis after being accused of profiting from a no-deal". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  20. ^ Rankin, Jennifer (26 September 2019). "Brexit party MEPs are EU's biggest earners in second jobs, study finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  21. ^ McGrath, Ciaran (6 March 2021). "Brexiteers take UK Government to court over botched Brexit deal - 'Which side are you on?'". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Unionist leaders unite to go to court over Irish Sea border, arguing it breaches the 1800 Act of Union and 1998 Belfast Agreement". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Belfast court dismisses legal challenge to Brexit Northern Ireland protocol". the Guardian. 30 June 2021.

External links[]

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