Nigel Farage has admitted he discussed the possibility of returning as Reform UK’s leader months before the 2024 general election, a disclosure that could undermine his account of the circumstances surrounding a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The issue goes to whether Farage should have declared the payment and related benefits when he became an MP.
Farage has previously said he did not need to declare the £5m from Harborne or benefits-in-kind from George Cottrell because he was not in politics when they were received. He has also said he had no intention of returning to politics until June 2024, shortly before the election.
The House of Commons code of conduct says new MPs must register all “registrable benefits” received in the 12 months before their election.
At a press conference on Monday, Farage said:
“I had no intention about returning to politics, or as leader of Reform, but in the spring of that year I did talk to Richard Tice about what the liabilities would be if…I was to come back to that position.”
The Sunday Times reported that Farage had negotiated the deal in March and April 2024, and that it involved Reform agreeing to repay or write off more than £1m in loans to Tice’s company.
“You would be a bit of a mug if you were to walk into a job and not find out what the potential liabilities were, and they were substantial,”Farage said.
An inquiry by parliament’s standards watchdog into whether Farage broke the rules by accepting the £5m and not declaring it is paused after he triggered a by-election by standing down as the MP for Clacton.
The development comes amid ongoing scrutiny of Farage’s financial arrangements and his political return. It also follows previous reporting on questions around undeclared support linked to Harborne and Cottrell, including renewed scrutiny over undeclared financial support, claims that he discussed a £1m annual loss before receiving the £5m crypto gift, and earlier reporting on the £5m crypto-billionaire gift ahead of the 2024 election.
Bridget Phillipson, the chair of the Labour party, said:
“Nigel Farage has blown a gaping hole in his excuse for why his secret £5m ‘gift’ from a crypto billionaire did not need to be declared.
“Farage has desperately tried to distract from his catalogue of scandals. But the embattled Reform leader has run out of road and must come clean with the public. If he had done nothing wrong, he surely would have explained himself by now.
“With grubby pacts, police probes, and support from a convicted fraudster – Reform are up to their neck in sleaze and they clearly think the rules don’t apply to them.”
