September 2025 – The Financial Times reports on a breakfast meeting held by the Reform UK party this week to which the chairman of the Nationwide Building Society, Kevin Parry, was invited.
The FT reports – Kevin Parry is one of the first senior UK bankers to engage with Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party.
Building societies claim to be politically neutral organisations so despite whatever Nationwide may say, it is unusual for management to attend meetings with political parties, hence it made news in the FT. It is also very unusual for even the BSA to meet with other than the reigning party. The “owners” will not be made aware of this event by the society.
It is understandable that the invitation came from Reform, which is seeking funding sources from wherever they can but why it should be accepted by the chairman of Nationwide is unclear. Perhaps there is some personal ambition on behalf of Kevin Parry. Perhaps in their search for funding Reform are not leaving any stone unturned and Nationwide may be seen as a potential candidate for demutualisation.