Police examine donations to Reform UK amid Farage finance row
British police said they are investigating at least £500,000 in donations to Reform UK, adding to scrutiny of Nigel Farage’s finances.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
British police said Friday they are investigating at least £500,000, or about $670,000, in donations to Reform UK. The inquiry adds to pressure on party leader Nigel Farage after he resigned his parliamentary seat this week and said he would seek a fresh mandate from voters.
Police said detectives are examining possible breaches of rules on political donations. The potential offences include hiding the real origin of money given to a party or giving false information to a party treasurer, according to police.
Two donations under review
Detectives are looking at two donations of £250,000, or about $335,500 each, made before the 2024 general election by Fiona Cottrell, according to AFP and Reuters. She is the mother of George Cottrell, whom the news agencies described as a convicted felon and a long-term financier of Farage’s political activity.
Authorities are investigating whether the money came from sources that were not allowed under British donation rules, including foreign or corporate sources, according to AFP and Reuters. Police said two people have been interviewed under caution and that no arrests have been made.
The donation inquiry is part of wider scrutiny of Reform UK’s finances, according to AFP and Reuters. Separate reports cited by the agencies said banks alerted the National Crime Agency to a further £1 million, or about $1.3 million, transfer from Fiona Cottrell to a company run by Reform deputy leader Richard Tice because of anti-money laundering concerns.
Tice rejected the allegations Friday, calling them a “politically motivated smear campaign.” He also said no party officials had been interviewed, according to AFP and Reuters.
Farage seeks return in by-election
Farage, a former Brexit campaigner, announced this week that he would resign his seat in Parliament and run again. He said the contest would let voters judge him after criticism of his finances, according to AFP and Reuters.
The by-election is scheduled for August 13. By resigning, Farage paused a separate parliamentary standards investigation into an undisclosed £5 million, or about $6.7 million, that he received before the 2024 election from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire and major stakeholder in the stablecoin Tether, according to AFP and Reuters.
Farage has offered different descriptions of that money, calling it at various points a reward for his Brexit campaigning, a fund for lifetime personal security and an “unconditional gift” that he could spend on “Ferraris or the horses,” the agencies reported.
Farage has said he has “done nothing wrong.” Framing his return campaign as “the people versus the establishment,” he said: “I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.”
Britain’s main political parties have condemned the resignation-and-rerun plan as a stunt aimed at avoiding suspension, according to AFP and Reuters. They have said they will boycott the vote, leaving parody candidate Count Binface as Farage’s only declared opponent so far.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.