Quick Facts
Biography
Benyamin Naeem Habib (born 7 June 1965) is a British politician and businessman. 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 plc, 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. His father is Pakistani. He moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1979 and his early education was at the independent Rugby School. Habib is a former president of its alumni association, the Rugbeian Society. He then attended Robinson College, Cambridge where he studied Natural Sciences. After graduating, Habib became an analyst in the corporate finance department at former financial services firm Lehman Brothers. After this, he was appointed finance director at insurance broker PWS Holdings.
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. The company, for which he is the chief executive, operates in the UK, Poland, and Romania.
Political career
Habib supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum. He supported Brexit as he felt that 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. He has discussed in interviews how uncertainty around Brexit could be an opportunity for profit for his business.
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. He was first on his party's list, and was elected as one of its two MEPs in the constituency. 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. 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.