Nigel Farage said he has “done no wrongdoing” after it emerged he did not declare benefits provided by an ally once convicted of fraud in the US.
The Sunday Times said, external George Cottrell’s support included security and social media staff who worked on Farage’s online content in the year before he was elected. It also claims Farage used a property rented by Cottrell near Buckingham Palace.
The Reform UK leader responded by insisting he “followed the rules” and also claimed he is the victim of an “establishment hit job”.
Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde has asked the parliamentary standards commissioner to investigate, telling the that Farage needs to be “straight with the British people”.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, Babarinde said: “He has dined out on a career about taking back control, yet he won’t tell us, he won’t be straight with us about who controls him.”
Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must declare financial interests and “registrable benefits” received in the 12 months before their election.
The guidelines say purely personal gifts or benefits do not need to be registered.
Farage is already facing a parliamentary probe over a £5m gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor which was not registered.
He has argued that he did not need to declare the gift because he received it before he was elected as Clacton MP and it was not political.
His team has made a similar argument for why the “in kind” – non-cash – benefits allegedly from Cottrell were not registered.
Cottrell, 32, who admitted a count of wire fraud in the US in 2017, is a long-standing ally of Farage. He was involved with Farage’s former political party Ukip as a volunteer in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.
According to the Sunday Times, Cottrell is a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and is involved with the offshore gambling website Tether.bet.
Farage said: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against the Sunday Times.
“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”
When he became an MP, Farage registered a £9,253 trip to Belgium in April 2024 donated by Cottrell, and later added a £15,276 donation from Cottrell for a US domestic flight he provided in December 2024.
No other support from Cottrell is listed in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.