Carlisle’s Reform UK candidate has responded to Cumbria Crack’s queries over his career.
The founder and CEO Darren Jordan clarified that Mr Ward had now accepted the role as chairman of the organisation.
Mr Ward told us that the organisation is actually called the Artemis Initiative, and is expected to be registered as a charity with the Charity Commission by July 12.
He said although it was newly formed, the concept had been around since 2015. It evolved from Pegasus Ops, established in 2020. Pegasus Ops has located and recovered 18 missing children and continues to work on cases in Asia, he said.
The website for Pegasus Ops describes it as a private security firm.
Mr Ward supplied a website address for the charity Artemis Initiative which is currently a ‘coming soon’ page until the organisation becomes registered.
Mr Ward told us: “Due to my busy election campaign schedule, I have asked Darren Jordan, the founder and CEO of Artemis Initiative, to provide detailed responses on my behalf.
“I have been offered the position of CEO/chairman position at Artemis, and I have agreed in principle.
“However, the formal acceptance is pending until the Charity Commission completes its due diligence on the charity’s application. Therefore, Artemis is currently in the process of becoming an officially registered charity.
“At this stage, as Artemis is in the process of registration and not yet fully operational, there are no official contact details available for public enquiries.
“Once the registration process is complete and the charity is officially launched, all relevant contact information and details about our mission and activities will be publicly available.
“Currently, we are not employing people as we await our registration number so we can start fundraising. Once operational, Artemis Initiative will be based in Shropshire to serve the entire UK efficiently. Unless I am elected, my role will change.”
Mr Ward, 56, gave us Mr Jordan’s responses as part of his email after his response and gave us an email address to contact Mr Jordan directly.
Mr Jordan’s answers confirmed Mr Ward’s statement.
Mr Ward’s political career began when he stood for the Referendum Party in Romford in the 1997 and 2001 elections.
He joined the police force and was unable to participate in politics, but when he left in 2013, he became active with UKIP. In 2014, he was elected as a councillor and served as deputy mayor in Basildon in 2015-16.
In the 2019 election, he stood for the Brexit Party in Manchester.
