ITV's Good Morning Britain has been panned for failing to highlight a former Tory chancellor's business links to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during an interview.
Kwasi Kwarteng appeared on the morning programme alongside journalist Kevin Maguire to discuss Reform's decline in UK polls and whether Farage had been permanently damaged by various scandals, including him failing to declare a £5m donation from a crypto billionaire.
Earlier this year Farage took a stake in a Bitcoin reserve business led by Kwarteng.
The MP invested £215,000 in Stack BTC alongside Blockchain.com as part of an equity fundraise, acquiring 4.3 million shares through his investment vehicle Thorn In The Side Ltd at a price of 5p per share, amounting to a 6.3% stake.
But during a discussion about Reform's popularity in the polls, the GMB hosts did not set out this key conflict of interest.
Instead, as Kwarteng argued Farage had been "counted out more times than anyone in British politics and he's found a way back", hosts Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway giggled.
Daily Mirror associate editor Maguire then jumped in to say to Kwarteng: "You're in business with him, which you don't hide."
He went on: "It feels the £5m gift that wasn't declared from a donor in Thailand does feel as if it's cut through and it's making a difference."
During a #GMB discussion on Nigel Farage, well done to Kevin Maguire for pointing out that his fellow guest is in business with Farage, a point the hosts should have made (and subsequently did, but only after Maguire had already done so!) pic.twitter.com/PiJmnNAULO
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) July 28, 2026
After being prompted by Maguire, Garraway then said: "We should remind people that he is also an investor in your [Kwarteng's] company."
Sharing the clip on Twitter/X, Saul Staniforth posted: "During a #GMB discussion on Nigel Farage, well done to Kevin Maguire for pointing out that his fellow guest is in business with Farage, a point the hosts should have made (and subsequently did, but only after Maguire had already done so!)."
ITV has been asked by The National to explain why this link was not set out at the start of the discussion.
On Monday, The National reported how Labour had overtaken Reform UK in Westminster polling from a major firm for the first time in more than a year.
In a new survey from More in Common, Andy Burnham’s Labour Party polled at 28%, up four points in a week and four points ahead of Reform UK.
Stack is headed up by executive chairman Kwarteng, who is well known for serving as chancellor for 38 days in 2022, having devised the disastrous mini-budget alongside the former prime minister Liz Truss.
He also served as Conservative MP for Spelthorne, Surrey, until 2024.
Kwarteng controls a 5.4% stake in Stack together with his wife Harriet.
He said earlier this year he was "absolutely delighted" to have Nigel Farage become an investor.
