Nigel Farage is embroiled in controversy over his acceptance of cash from a convicted fraudster and crypto gambler and not declaring it to parliament.
He is George Cottrell, who is nicknamed “Posh George” in tribute to his private education and aristocratic, well-connected family background. Cottrell, 32, is a close friend of Farage and has been working with him for more than 10 years, latterly in what is described in the higher reaches of Reform UK as a right-hand man to the party leader. It’s been revealed that Cottrell was convicted of wire fraud in 2016 and served time in a US jail. He is a crypto-betting entrepreneur with a close involvement in an offshore bookmaker, Tether.bet.
As well as personal advice and counsel, he supplied Farage with security, transport, staff and accommodation. He funded this himself, with the last payment made in early 2024, according to his lawyer. In addition, Cottrell hired and paid for three staff to work on boosting Farage’s social media presence, generating content for posts on immigration and human rights laws and promoting Reform.
Since the general election, Cottrell has allowed Farage to use his five-storey rented house near Westminster and around the corner from Buckingham Palace.
Parliamentary rules are clear that a new MP must disclose any donations, financial or in kind, that might “reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions or words as a member of parliament” in the 12 months prior to their winning election. Farage only declared part of Cottrell’s total beneficence: the £9,523.60 cost of attendance at a conference in Belgium, along with a staff member and a bodyguard. If it is shown he should have disclosed the rest, he may be found to have broken the MPs’ code of conduct and could be liable to suspension from the House, which in turn could trigger a recall petition for a by-election. Farage would still be eligible to stand in that contest.
That he is the victim of an “establishment hit-job” and he has done nothing wrong. “It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”
That Cottrell is a close friend of Farage and, as such, it was perfectly legitimate for Farage to receive assistance from him, and as it occurred before the Reform chief was elected as an MP, it did not require reporting.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards will determine, after the matter was referred to them by the Liberal Democrats.
Yes, that’s because Farage is already under investigation by the commissioner for accepting a £5m gift from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne in early 2024. Farage insists that money was to pay for his personal security and the gift was “purely private” and “not political in any sense at all”.
While Farage is lashing out and his party is officially supporting him, there is mounting disquiet within Reform about the effect this is having on Farage and the party’s public standing. The amount received from Harborne, even allowing for Harborne’s considerable wealth, was a shock. Now, there is Cottrell. Coming on the back of a resounding defeat to Andy Burnham and Labour in Makerfield, not helped by a poor choice of candidate, it calls into question Farage and Reform’s judgement and their ability to govern should they ever occupy No 10.
Farage’s enemies are cock-a-hoop; it is true they are exploiting the row, but it is a problem entirely of Farage’s own making. With Labour on the rebound, at least for now, under Andy Burnham and the Tories strengthening with an improving Kemi Badenoch, the talk is of Reform possibly having peaked. Any more damaging revelations regarding Farage could prove decisive.
Certainly, Reform does not need this heading into the summer, the arrival of a new prime minister and the autumn conference season. While Farage won his Clacton seat comfortably, there is no guarantee he would do so again.
