Nigel Farage’s Clacton seat under threat – ‘preparations made for by-election’.TA
The Reform UK leader has blamed an ‘establishment hit job’ amid calls for an investigation into financial support he received from a convicted criminal.
The Reform UK leader says he has been the victim of an ‘establishment hit job’ (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage’s seat in Clacton could be under threat after he was referred to Parliament’s standards watchdog amid a new funding row. The Reform UK leader claimed he is the victim of an “establishment hit job” after an outcry over financial support given to him by a convicted criminal.
George Cottrell, who was jailed in the US for wire fraud in 2017, allegedly provided funding for Mr Farage‘s operation, including staffing, security and the use of a London townhouse, according to The Sunday Times. If he is found to have broken the MPs’ code of conduct, Mr Farage could be suspended from the House of Commons, potentially ousting him from his Essex seat.
Nigel Farage could be forced out of his seat in Clacton over the funding row (Image: Getty)
Preparations have already begun for a by-election in Mr Farage’s Clacton constituency in anticipation of him losing his seat, The Telegraph reports.
Under rules in place at the time of the Reform leader’s election in 2024, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not reasonably be thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
In a statement, the Reform leader said: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times.
“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”
The party’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick also said Mr Cottrell is an “old friend” of Mr Farage and has “no formal role within Reform”.
Mr Jenrick told broadcasters that “no rules have been broken whatsoever” and that Mr Farage is “not going anywhere”.
The Times reported Cottrell handed out a business card printed with his name, the Reform UK logo and Nigel Farage’s official email address, despite having no formal role in the party.
After becoming the MP for Clacton in 2024, Mr Farage registered a £9,000 trip to Belgium donated by Cottrell, and belatedly added £15,000 for a US domestic flight, but no other support.
Mr Farage is already facing questions about an undisclosed £5 million gift from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is investigating whether Mr Farage should have registered the gift, for which the Clacton MP has given various explanations, including that it was to pay for his personal security.
