Farage denies fresh allegations he may have broken parliamentary rules over undeclared benefits from convicted criminal
A spokesman for Nigel Farage denied any parliamentary rules had been broken after reports claimed undeclared support was provided to the Reform UK leader
A spokesman for Nigel Farage has denied new allegations that the Reform UK leader violated parliamentary rules after accepting support from a convicted criminal and failing to properly declare it.
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The new reports claim that Nigel Farage received undeclared support - including security and social media staff - from crypto-gambler and convicted criminal George Cottrell, in the run-up to his appointment as an MP.
The investigation also claims Farage used a property rented by Cottrell, 32, near Buckingham Palace.
Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must declare financial interests and "registrable benefits" received in the 12 months before their election - although purely personal gifts or benefits do not need to be registered.
The MP for Clacton is already facing a parliamentary probe after a £5m gift from British cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne was allegedly not registered appropriately by the party leader.
Mr Farage, who disputes the claims, said the money was to be used for personal security and did not need to be declared, as it was received before he became an MP.
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A spokesman for Farage alleges that the additional support from Cottrell, unearthed in an investigation by The Sunday Times, did not need to be declared for similar reasons.
When he became an MP, Farage registered various other donations from Cottrell, including a £9,253 trip to Belgium in April 2024 and a £15,276 donation from Cottrell for a US domestic flight he provided in December 2024.
No other support from Cottrell - who admitted to one count of wire fraud in the US in 2017 - is listed in the Register of Members' Financial Interests.
Responding to the new allegations, a spokesman for Farage said: "It comes as no surprise that the Sunday Times has chosen to publish this baseless and contrived story, covering a period of time when Nigel Farage was not even an active politician let alone an elected one, given that the newspaper backed the Labour Party at the last general election.
"Contrary to the story's tone, no parliamentary rules have been broken."
A spokesman for the Labour Party said: "Nigel Farage and Reform are engulfed in a huge and growing scandal.
"These new allegations of secret payments from a wealthy convicted criminal are on top of the ongoing scandal of his secret £5m gift from a crypto billionaire.
"How much money has he been given, what did his donors get in return, and why has he tried to cover them up and avoid legitimate questions?"