Labour urges elections watchdog to investigate Nigel Farage’s finances

Nigel Farage is facing calls for an investigation from the elections watchdog concerning financial support he received from a convicted fraudster.

Labour has formally urged the Electoral Commission to probe whether the Reform UK leader properly declared funding for security and staffing, reportedly provided by his long-term ally, George Cottrell.

This support is said to have been given in the year before Mr Farage was elected.

Concerns raised by Labour centre on whether the assistance should have been disclosed, given Mr Farage's prominent role within Reform even prior to his return to frontline politics.

The party also questioned the permissibility of Montenegro-based Mr Cottrell as a donor, citing uncertainty over whether he was registered on a UK electoral roll at the time.

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley has written to the Electoral Commission to request the investigation.

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley has written to the Electoral Commission to request an investigation into Nigel Farage’s finances

She said: “It is now abundantly clear that Mr Farage may have not only broken Parliamentary rules, he may have broken the law.

“Farage can’t brazenly brush this off as being ‘none of your business’ any longer. He needs to own his self-inflicted scandal and prove he’s not been secretly breaking the rules and taking the British public for fools.”

But Mr Farage appeared to have won the backing of US president Donald Trump in his fight against what the Reform leader called an “establishment hit job”.

Mr Farage said he has “done no wrongdoing” after The Sunday Times investigation into his ties with Mr Cottrell.

Mr Trump appeared to indicate his backing for Mr Farage.

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, the US leader shared a link to an article on The National Pulse website titled They’re Running the 2024 Anti-Trump Playbook on Nigel Farage.

Mr Trump personally called Mr Farage to congratulate him on his political success in achieving the removal of Sir Keir Starmer from No 10, The Times reported.

The Reform UK leader is under pressure following reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided funding for security and staffing in the year before he was elected

As well as Labour’s call for the elections watchdog to intervene, the Liberal Democrats have already demanded a parliamentary sleaze inquiry.

Under rules in place at the time of Mr Farage’s election in 2024, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.

The Liberal Democrats have called for Parliament’s standards commissioner, who is already investigating a £5 million gift the MP received from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, to examine the support.

Mr Farage reacted angrily when approached at an airport by a Sky News journalist asking whether it had been a mistake not to declare gifts from the ally.

“You tell your bosses, you harass my family any more… serious consequences. That’s what your organisation has done this morning. Go away,” he said.

Sky said it had not contacted anyone from Mr Farage’s family about the story.

Nigel Farage loses his temper in a testy exchange with Sky News in which he claimed that journalists were contacting his family (Sky News)

The Reform leader on Sunday issued a statement saying he had not broken any rules.

He said: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times.

“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”

Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has said Mr Cottrell is an “old friend” of Mr Farage and has “no formal role within Reform”.

Mr Cottrell was jailed for eight months in the US in 2017 after pleading guilty to a charge of wire fraud after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer.

He was arrested as he and Mr Farage travelled back to Britain after a trip to the US.

Mr Cottrell reportedly remains a close adviser to Mr Farage after first becoming involved in Ukip as a volunteer in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.

Parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is already investigating whether Mr Farage should have registered an undisclosed £5 million gift from Thai-based billionaire Mr Harborne.

If found to have breached the rules, Mr Farage could face sanctions including a Commons suspension that could trigger a recall petition and a by-election in his seat.

The Reform leader has repeatedly said that he was not required to register the gift, which he has said was purely personal.