Nigel Farage said he received £5 million from a billionaire donor as a “reward for campaigning for Brexit“. The Reform UK leader is under investigation from the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner which will determine whether or not he broke Commons rules by failing to declare the gift.
Farage was given the gift by prominent cryptocurrency investor and billionaire, Christopher Harborne, in early 2024. He previously said he was under “no obligation” to declare it as he received it before he was elected as Clacton MP. More recently, Farage told The Sun he was given the money for securing Brexit, adding he “cannot be bought by anybody”. However, political opponents argue he should have declared it in the MP’s register of interests after being elected to Parliament in July, 2024.
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Farage told The Sun: “It’s very unusual for someone to give up 27 years of their life to campaign for something. And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
Meanwhile, Harborn, who lives in Thailand, said he gave the money to Farage “because of my great admiration for the decades of work he had done to achieve Brexit”. Last year, the billionaire gave a single donation of £9 million to Reform UK.
Opposing parties have written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner about the £5 million gift. The Commons code of conduct states new MPs “must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election”.
A Tory spokesman said the money was “more than most people will earn in a lifetime”.
They added: “Nigel Farage needs to explain how he got it, why he got it, and why he didn’t declare it.
“If there is a simple answer then he should welcome these investigations. But like so often with Reform, there is something very fishy about the whole story.”
Labour Party chair Anna Turley added: “Nigel Farage has been avoiding legitimate questions since news of his billionaire backer’s ‘gift’. It’s right that he faces a proper investigation.”
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Reform UK said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.”