Nigel Farage has apologised for 17 breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct after failing to declare £380,000 of income on time. The Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton said he had relied on a senior member of staff to submit his income to the register of interests and had been let down, but took full responsibility for the error.
Farage blamed “severe growing pains” as Reform UK had been overwhelmed by administration and emails since the 2024 election. The interests included his work as a broadcaster for GB News and payments for social media output on Google and X. He said he was an “oddball” who does not do computers, adding: “I’m not, I’m afraid, computer literate, which makes me yet more an oddball than perhaps I was before.”
The high-earning MP has previously admitted breaching parliamentary rules by failing to register a trip to Florida to appear at a fundraising event for Donald Trump. In his apology to the standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, Farage said there had been no intention to deceive anyone and that he had nothing to gain by late declarations.
Commissioner Greenberg found there had been a high number of breaches and of high value, but accepted it had been inadvertent. Farage said: “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 “distracted” and “not on the side of working people”. They added that Labour would tighten rules on MPs’ second jobs. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously been found to have committed eight minor and inadvertent breaches for late declarations of financial interests.
