Scotland Yard is investigating £500,000 in donations to Reform UK channelled through a company owned by the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice – payments that came to light after the firm received £1m from the mother of a convicted fraudster.
The inquiry focuses on two £250,000 donations made by Britain Means Business to Reform in the weeks before the 2024 general election, when Tice was party chairman and sole director of the company. Electoral Commission records show the payments were made on 10 and 12 June 2024, just days after Fiona Cottrell transferred £1m into Tice’s firm. About half of that sum was then passed to the party.
“Met Police investigate £500k in donations to Reform UK via Richard Tice's company, as Farage's popularity drops.”
Cottrell is a significant donor to Reform and the mother of George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster with close links to leader Nigel Farage. She also made two direct donations of £250,000 each to Reform in May 2024, which are already under police scrutiny.
Tice said he learned of the investigation from the BBC, asking: “If true why are the Met Police briefing the BBC before contacting interested parties? Is the Met leadership now engaged in the widespread politically motivated smear campaign against Reform and its leaders?”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the probe was launched in February 2025 after a referral from the Electoral Commission, and that two people have been interviewed under caution. No arrests have been made. The investigation concerns alleged offences under Section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which bans concealing donations from impermissible donors or using false information about a donation.
According to reports, Reform’s bank account at Arbuthnot Latham was frozen for two weeks around the 2024 election after the Cottrell transfers were flagged via suspicious activity reports to the National Crime Agency.
Internal briefing documents, reported by the Times, instruct Reform councillors to describe the inquiry as an “establishment stitch-up”. The briefing notes say: “The British people are tired of the establishment media doing anything they can to stop Reform. A daily routine of hit jobs and smears will not deter us from winning the next general election and fixing broken Britain.”
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations … are strictly followed.”
But the controversy coincides with a sharp decline in the party’s popularity. New YouGov polling shows Nigel Farage’s net favourability rating has fallen to -46, with only 22% of people viewing him positively and 68% negatively – levels comparable to Boris Johnson after the first Partygate revelations. In contrast, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch now enjoys higher popularity than any Tory leader in over five years.
The payments are the latest in a series of donation scandals to hit Reform, including a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne that is subject to a standards inquiry, and a separate probe into whether Farage breached parliamentary rules over financial support from Cottrell.