Nigel Farage has been on a well-deserved high after Reform pulled off a spectacular coup at the local elections. But could that all be about to come crashing down? As if today didn’t already have its fair share of twists and turns, the Commons sleaze watchdog decided to announce a probe into the Reform leader.
Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary standards commissioner, will investigate Farage to determine whether he broke the rules on declaring financial interests after pocketing a £5mn donation from a crypto billionaire in 2024. Reform says the present from Christopher Harborne was a strictly ‘personal’ donation and, as such, was not subject to Commons rules. It was also received before the leading Brexiteer decided to make a run for parliament. Mr S only wishes someone would afford the same generosity to him…
If Greenberg finds Farage breached declaration procedures, he could be forced to fight a by-election in his Clacton-on-Sea constituency. Team Reform are confident the boss has done nothing wrong and will have his name cleared.
A spokesperson for the party 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.
Parliamentary rules dictate that 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’. Farage pocketed the cash before deciding to run, but his team says it wasn’t declarable due to its ‘personal’ nature. They said the Thailand-based crypto king simply wanted to help Farage out with security costs.
While Labour tears itself apart amid a bloody civil war for the leadership, this is certainly one silver lining they can at least unite behind…
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