"A man who has spent much of his recent life in Nigel Farage's shadow. Pushed around. Made to feel worthless. Losing what self-respect he may have had by the day. Before the last election campaign began, Dicky had been the leader of Reform. A party that had been going nowhere very much under his charisma-free control. Dicky would speak and no one would listen."
"Then Nige decided to rise from the dead. To elbow Dicky aside. No consultation. No apology. Dicky was told to consider himself lucky he had been demoted to the near meaningless title of deputy leader. All of which Dicky duly did. He sucked it up. Because that was always the nature of their relationship. Nigel first, Dicky nowhere. It's almost painful to watch them together sometimes. The desperation in Tice's eyes. His gratitude when Farage stops ignoring him and deigns to condescend to him instead."
"He longs to be Farage's shadow chancellor designate. Dreams of living next door to him in Downing Street. But Nigel can't even give him that. Can't offer him the satisfaction of knowing he figures in his plans. For months Nige has been playing Dicky off against his other Reform wannabe, Zia Yusuf. Leaving each one to guess who is most in favour."
Richard Tice occupies a subordinate, marginalized position under Nigel Farage and yearns for status and recognition. He accepted demotion from party leader to deputy with visible resignation. Tice craves roles like shadow chancellor and proximity to Downing Street but receives little assurance. Farage manipulates contenders, pitting Tice against rivals such as Zia Yusuf and threatening to reward outsiders like Jonathan Gullis. Tice responds with submissive gratitude when Farage acknowledges him and increasingly clings to scraps of attention. He travels regularly to Dubai to see his girlfriend. On the Today programme he appeared willing to say anything to defend Farage.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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