Detectives are reportedly investigating donations to Reform UK from a company controlled by Richard Tice. The Met Police is understood to be probing two donations totaling £500,000 from Britain Means Business in 2024. This money is reported to have been given to the company by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of convicted fraudster George Cottrell, a close ally of Nigel Farage.
Police investigation into donations
The donations were referred to police by the Electoral Commission amid questions about the original source of the money, the BBC reports. Mrs Cottrell is reported to have given £1 million to Britain Means Business in June 2024, with half then being given to Reform. Last month it was reported that the Met was investigating two direct donations to Reform UK by Mrs Cottrell totalling £500,000. Police are looking at whether the sum came from an impermissible donor—which could include people not registered to vote in the UK and overseas companies. Political parties are legally obliged not to accept money from such sources.
Electoral Commission records show the two donations of £250,000 were given to Reform by the company two days apart. The Met—which did not identify Reform UK as the receiving party—said: "An investigation was launched in February 2025 after a referral was made to the Metropolitan Police by the Electoral Commission relating to donations made to a political party ahead of the 2024 UK general election." It added: "Detectives from the Met's Special Enquiry Team are investigating alleged offences under Section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Early investigative advice has been sought from the Crown Prosecution Service and two people have so far been interviewed under caution. No arrests have been made." The legislation makes it an offence to withhold the source of a political donation.
Labour and Reform reactions
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The allegations of sleaze and donation scandals just continue to pile up for Reform. Richard Tice can’t dismiss these troubling developments as a ‘smear campaign’. Police are now probing half a million pounds in donations to his party, and Reform’s bank account was frozen after suspected suspicious activity. This is extremely serious." Following the BBC report, deputy Reform leader Richard Tice said: "This is the first I have heard of it - if true why are the Met Police briefing the BBC before contacting interested parties? Is the Met leadership now engaged in the widespread politically motivated smear campaign against Reform and its leaders?" A Reform UK spokesman said: "Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, are strictly followed, as has been the case with donations so far."
Background on donor
It comes after The Sunday Times reported that Reform UK's bank account was temporarily frozen shortly before the general election. For two weeks it was unable to make payments through its account while compliance checks were carried out. Companies House records show Mr Tice has been an officer for Britain Means Business—formerly called Leave Means Leave—since 2017. The Times last month reported that Mrs Cottrell, who briefly dated the future King Charles in the 1970s, described herself as a 'retired stylist' in a 2023 legal document. Her late husband's estate was valued at around £1.5 million. The National Crime Agency was reportedly not satisfied Mrs Cottrell was the original source of the funds. George Cottrell—a rich aristocrat known as 'Posh George'—avoided 20 years in prison in the US after striking a plea deal. He was sentenced to eight months in jail in 2017 after admitting to one count of wire fraud, having initially been indicted on 21 offences. Using the alias 'Bill', he presented himself as someone prepared to move criminal proceeds, including drug money, through the dark web.
