Nigel Farage has suspended his near-weekly press conferences and reduced his media appearances as questions mount over financial gifts he did not declare to Parliament. The scrutiny centers on his relationship with George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and on-off aide who provided him with funding for staffing and security before the 2024 general election.
A separate investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog is already underway over a 5 million pound donation, equivalent to about $6.7 million, from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. On Sunday, Liberal Democrat lawmaker Josh Babarinde asked the watchdog to open a second inquiry focused on Cottrell's contributions.
Babarinde said "there is a serious question as to whether Mr. Farage met his obligations under the Code of Conduct" for members of Parliament.
Cottrell, 32, was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport in 2016 while traveling with Farage, on allegations he had offered to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers. He was indicted on 21 counts including money laundering, fraud, blackmail, and extortion, but agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of wire fraud, admitting he had attempted to defraud criminals on the dark web by pretending to be a money launderer. He served eight months in prison.
According to reporting by The Sunday Times, Cottrell gave Farage funding for staffing and security before the 2024 general election, as well as use of a London townhouse near Buckingham Palace. Reform Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick confirmed the payments but said they occurred before Farage became a member of Parliament in July 2024. Jenrick described Cottrell as an "old friend" of Farage with no formal party role.
UK rules require newly elected lawmakers to declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds received in the previous 12 months, with an exception for gifts that could not reasonably be seen as connected to their political activities.
Farage denied wrongdoing and said he was the target of an "establishment hit job." In a statement, he said: "I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times."
Reform UK holds only eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but consistently leads opinion polls over both the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives. Some observers had considered Farage a potential future prime minister ahead of the next national election.
