Nigel Farage has been interviewed by the parliamentary watchdog over a £5million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Reform UK leader, who faces a second by-election battle in Clacton if the probe finds against him, was quizzed for around 30 minutes last month, according to reports.
Interview with the standards commissioner
Mr Farage told the Sunday Times he had been interviewed by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, over whether he should have declared the £5million gift. The gift was not declared before his election as an MP in July 2024.
Mr Farage has given differing explanations for the gift, originally saying it was for his personal security and later claiming it was a reward for campaigning for Brexit. He also said it was no-one's business what he spent the money on and suggested he could spend it on Ferraris or betting.
Previous by-election and ongoing probe
The investigation into Mr Farage, who denies wrongdoing, was briefly paused earlier this year after he resigned as an MP to trigger a by-election in Clacton. He attempted to frame the fight as a "people versus the establishment by-election," but the plan unravelled after major political parties boycotted the "cynical political stunt." He ended up battling comedy candidate Count Binface over the summer.
Mr Farage still faces the prospect of a second by-election in Clacton if the commissioner rules against him and issues him with a lengthy Commons suspension.
Reform donations and reaction
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Farage dismissed claims Reform had peaked in the polls, saying: "The narrative that Reform has peaked? No, it's troughed. It's a very different thing, it's troughed."
He also claimed some people were "quite impressed" when Reform secured donations of £72million from two crypto billionaires. Last month, the party was handed £36million each from Ben Delo and Mr Harborne. TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said at the time: "The public will say what does he want for his £36million?"
Mr Farage said he thought the reaction would be "far worse," adding: "The fact that I managed to pull off a coup of that magnitude, people were quite impressed."
A Labour spokesman told The Mirror: "Nigel Farage is completely out of touch and always seems to think he's above the rules. It's time he finally came clean about the scandals he's facing and put all the facts on the table. Farage's mega donations from crypto-billionaires won't let him buy his way out of the sleaze and scandal he and his party are drowning in."
