The Sunday Times has reported that Nigel Farage negotiated a deal with Richard Tice, then party chief, in March and April 2024 to return as leader of Reform UK. Under that arrangement, once Mr Farage became leader, Reform would repay or write off more than £1 million in outstanding loans it had received from Mr Tice’s company.
The report casts fresh doubt on Mr Farage’s defence for not declaring a £5 million gift from crypto-billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne. Mr Farage has argued that the gift was not connected to his political activity and said last month that he “wasn’t in politics” between 2021 and June 2024.
Deal and defence
Mr Farage received the gift from Mr Harborne in April 2024, according to The Guardian. A Reform source told the Press Association that Mr Farage had been keeping his options open. They said he had found out about the party’s liabilities and what loans would have to be repaid if he were to come back, then decided he would not do so, before later reversing that decision.
Mr Farage has previously said he had no intention of returning to frontline politics before June 2024, when he announced he would return as leader and run for the Clacton seat. “From 2021 to the 3rd of June 2024, I was a broadcaster, I was someone that appeared on celebrity TV programmes, I was somebody that promoted some financial market products, but I was an influencer … I wasn’t in politics,” he told the Triggernometry podcast last month.
Investigation and by-election
Newly elected MPs must register any relevant financial interests and gifts received in the 12 months prior to their election. A parliamentary investigation into the £5 million gift has been paused since Mr Farage stood down as Clacton MP and triggered a by-election, which he is standing in, but would resume if he is re-elected.
Mr Farage has appeared to confirm that he was facing another probe over support provided by convicted fraudster George Cottrell. His main opponent in the upcoming Clacton by-election is comedy candidate Count Binface after the major parties declined to take part in the poll, which they see as a political stunt.
Political reaction
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said: “Nigel Farage has been desperately trying to dodge scrutiny for months. He can’t run from the truth forever though – the net is closing in.
“He called a by-election against a bin to run away from serious unanswered questions. If the Reform leader really has nothing to hide, he can come clean with the public today. Grubby pacts, secret gifts, support from a convicted fraudster, and attempted cover-ups – it all adds up to a stench of sleaze the public can smell from miles away.”
Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “With every new revelation, Reform UK and Nigel Farage look more and more like a bunch of grifters who believe it’s one rule for them and one rule for everyone else. Even if Farage does manage to face down Count Binface in this pointless by-election, he won’t be able to wriggle out of the formal investigations or the prospect of a second by-election. The people of Clacton and the public deserve to know the truth.”
