Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Launches Inquiry Into Whether Nigel Farage Should Have Declared Pre-Election £5m Gift

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is launching an inquiry into whether Reform UK leader Nigel Farage broke Commons rules by accepting a £5m gift and not declaring it, @BBCBreaking reported. Farage attended the State of Parliament earlier on Wednesday. He was elected to Parliament in 2024.

Farage said he was under no obligation to declare the gift from Christopher Harborne because it had been given before he was an MP. The £5m gift came from the billionaire Reform backer. The Conservatives wrote to Parliament's standards watchdog, which is now investigating whether the Reform leader broke the House of Commons code of conduct.

The Conservatives have also raised concerns with the Electoral Commission, which said it was considering the information. The House of Commons code of conduct states that new MPs must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits other than earnings received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election.

The rules say purely personal gifts or benefits from family or commercial loans would not normally have to be registered.

The rules also say both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. They state that if there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered. Reform's opponents say Farage should have declared the gift in the MPs' register of interests when he was elected to Parliament in 2024.

The article detailing the inquiry was published on 13 May 2026 at 12:38 BST and updated seven minutes before the current version.