politics
Electoral Commission Urged to Investigate Farage Over Undeclared Donations
The Independent reported calls for the Electoral Commission to examine whether Nigel Farage failed to declare donations from convicted money launderer George Cottrell spanning five years. Labour chair Anna Turley and former Reform UK deputy Ben Habib separately requested the probe. Farage already faces a separate parliamentary standards inquiry over another donation.
Jul 7, 4:46 AM·2m read1 source
The IndependentAudio version
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The Electoral Commission has been urged to investigate Nigel Farage over allegations that he failed to properly declare donations from a convicted criminal over a five-year period, The Independent reported. Ben Habib, former deputy leader of Reform UK, told The Independent he has asked the watchdog to look into a failure to declare donations from George Cottrell, a convicted money launderer who provided accommodation and paid for Farage’s security over that period.
Labour’s chair Anna Turley has also published a letter she has written to the Electoral Commission calling for it to investigate.
The donations in question were allegedly made in 2023 and 2024, and in the case of free accommodation, allegedly still ongoing. They were reported by The Sunday Times on 4 July 2026. Turley highlighted claims that Cottrell paid for a member of staff to support Farage on his social media output in the year preceding the 2024 general election, as well as for a personal assistant.
She added that Cottrell provided Farage with security primarily composed of elite former soldiers and drivers. Farage is already under investigation by the Parliamentary standards watchdog over a £5m donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne which he failed to declare.
The Reform UK leader was filmed having an angry outburst at Sky News at the airport on his return from the US, accusing them of harassing his daughter over the issue.
Reform UK has stated that Farage was not politically active before he stood for parliament in the 2024 election and declared everything that was appropriate. Habib disputed the claim, stating that Farage was the largest shareholder in and director of Reform and controlled the party. He added that Farage was instrumental in recruiting Lee Anderson to the party in early 2024.
