Nigel Farage has insisted he “followed the rules” after it emerged he failed to declare benefits provided by an ally once convicted of fraud in the US – prompting the Liberal Democrats to call for a parliamentary investigation.
The Sunday Times reported that George Cottrell, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who admitted wire fraud in the US in 2017, supplied support including security and social media staff who worked on Farage’s online content in the year before he was elected. The newspaper also claimed Farage used a property rented by Cottrell near Buckingham Palace.
“Nigel Farage faces investigation after failing to declare support from convicted fraudster George Cottrell.”
Farage, the Reform UK leader, responded by saying he had “done no wrongdoing” and was considering legal action against the Sunday Times. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesman, told the BBC the support was provided in a “purely personal capacity” before Farage became an MP, meaning no rules were broken. “Nigel Farage is allowed to have friends,” Jenrick said.
But the Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde has asked the parliamentary standards commissioner to investigate, telling the BBC that Farage needs to be “straight with the British people”. Babarinde said: “He has dined out on a career about taking back control, yet he won’t tell us, he won’t be straight with us about who controls him.”
Cottrell, 32, is a long-standing ally of Farage who was involved with Ukip as a volunteer before the Brexit referendum. According to the Sunday Times, he is involved with the offshore gambling website Tether.bet. Farage previously registered a trip to Belgium in April 2024 donated by Cottrell and a US domestic flight in December 2024, but no other support is listed in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Farage is already facing a separate parliamentary probe over a £5m gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor which was not registered. He has argued that money was for personal security and not political because it was received before he became an MP – a similar defence his team has used for the benefits allegedly from Cottrell.
Jenrick dismissed the allegations as a “very old story that has been dredged up” to “drag Nigel downwards”, adding: “It’s not going to succeed.” The betting markets, however, suggest the pressure is mounting: odds on Polymarket that Farage will quit as Reform leader briefly hit 22% before slipping back to 16%.