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Nigel Farage Did Not Register Support From Fraud-Convicted Ally, Sunday Times Reports
BBC News reported that Nigel Farage's spokesman denied allegations the Reform UK leader failed to declare benefits supplied by George Cottrell. Cottrell was convicted of wire fraud in the US in 2017 and provided security and social media staff in the year before Farage's election as MP.
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BBC News reported on 5 July 2026 that the Sunday Times said Nigel Farage failed to register support supplied by George Cottrell, a man convicted of wire fraud in the US in 2017. The Sunday Times said Cottrell supplied security and social media staff who worked on Farage's online content in the year before he was elected MP for Clacton and that Farage used a property rented by Cottrell near Buckingham Palace.
Farage registered a £9,253 trip to Belgium in April 2024 donated by Cottrell and a £15,276 donation from Cottrell for a US domestic flight in December 2024.
No other support from Cottrell appears in Farage's Register of Members' Financial Interests. Under parliamentary rules new MPs must declare financial interests and registrable benefits received in the 12 months before their election. Farage is already facing a parliamentary probe over a £5m gift from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne in early 2024 that was not registered.
Farage has argued the money was for personal security and was not political because it was received when he was not involved in politics. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating that gift. A spokesman for Farage said the Sunday Times story covered a period when Farage was not an active politician and that no parliamentary rules had been broken.
A source said Reform paid for Farage's security and staff after his return to politics and denied that Farage stayed at the London property rented by Cottrell. Cottrell, 32, was jailed for eight months in the US after pleading guilty to wire fraud. He admitted attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by posing as a money launderer.
