Nigel Farage has apologised after being found in breach of the MPs' code of conduct 17 times for failing to declare £380,000 of income on time. The Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton described himself as an 'oddball' who is not computer literate, blaming the errors on a senior staff member who he said let him down.
The undeclared interests included payments for his work as a broadcaster for GB News and for social media output on Google and X. Farage, the highest-earning MP, said there was no intention to deceive and that he had nothing to gain by late declarations. He previously admitted breaching rules by failing to register a trip to Florida for a Donald Trump fundraising event.
In his submission to the standards commissioner, Farage said: 'Why have payments that have gone into my account been delayed? Well, gross, gross administrative error.' He added: 'I don't do computers. I can come and fill in a register for you, but I don't do computers. So I rely on other people to do those things for me. I'm not, I'm afraid, computer literate, which makes me yet more an oddball than perhaps I was before.'
Standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg found the breaches were of high number and high value but accepted they were inadvertent. Farage apologised, saying: 'I'm sorry. I apologise. I fully accept that I'm in the wrong in every way, because if your staff mess up, ultimately you're responsible.'
A Labour Party spokesperson criticised Farage, saying he was 'so distracted with tempting failed Tory politicians into his party that he can't even get the basics right.' The spokesperson added that Labour would tighten rules on MPs' second jobs. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also previously been found to have declared financial interests late, leading to eight minor breaches.
