finance
MP asks standards commissioner to review undeclared support Farage received before election
BBC News reported that Nigel Farage did not declare benefits supplied by George Cottrell before his election as an MP. Reform UK maintains the support was personal and required no registration. The Liberal Democrats have asked the parliamentary standards commissioner to investigate.
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BBC News reported that Nigel Farage did not declare benefits supplied by cryptocurrency entrepreneur George Cottrell in the year before Farage's election as an MP. The Sunday Times said Cottrell provided security and social media staff for Farage's online content and allowed use of a property he rented near Buckingham Palace.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's Treasury spokesman, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the support occurred in a purely personal capacity before Farage became an MP and therefore did not require registration.
Jenrick described Cottrell as an old friend and said Farage stayed at the property only a couple of times. Cottrell, 32, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the United States in 2017 and served eight months in jail after attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web. Farage was present when U.S.
Authorities arrested Cottrell as the pair returned from a Republican convention. Farage registered a £9,253 trip to Belgium donated by Cottrell in April 2024 and a £15,276 donation for a U.S. domestic flight in December 2024.
No other support from Cottrell appears in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. A Farage spokesman said the Sunday Times story covered a period when Farage was not an active politician and that no parliamentary rules had been broken. A Reform source said the party paid for Farage's security and staff after his return to politics and denied he received accommodation from Cottrell.
Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde asked Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg to investigate the allegations and to confirm whether they fall under the existing inquiry into a separate £5m gift or require a separate matter.
