Brexit architect Farage under pressure as questions over funding mount
By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — Much like his ally, US President Donald Trump, Nigel Farage has enjoyed a political career seemingly coated in Teflon, his straight-talking, combative communication style brushing off any potential scandal.
Throughout his rise to become the voice of Britain’s populist hard-right, architect of Brexit and chief anti-immigrant activist, any accusations of wrongdoing have largely glided off him. Reform UK, his populist party, leads most national opinion polls, giving it an outsized influence on British politics given that only eight of the country’s 650 lawmakers belong to the party.
But, in recent weeks, that momentum has stalled.
While Reform enjoyed huge gains in May’s local elections, which don’t affect the make-up of the national government but provide important insights into the public’s mood, translating those gains into more parliamentary seats is proving difficult for the party. It has lost two prominent by-elections this year – to the left-wing Green Party and governing center-left Labour Party respectively – and now faces a challenge from its right flank with the rise of the Restore Britain party, led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
And, perhaps more importantly for a party whose political fortunes are practically inseparable from its leader’s own personal brand, Farage himself is under unprecedented scrutiny for some of his financial dealings.
On Sunday, he and his allies were once again forced to deny allegations he broke parliamentary rules after The Sunday Times reported he failed to disclose gifts and payments from crypto-financier and gambler George Cottrell, who was indicted by US authorities in 2016 for conspiracy to commit money-laundering, wire fraud, blackmail and extortion, served eight months in prison, and reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
The allegations come three months after the Guardian reported Farage received a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne just before he announced he would stand to be a member of parliament in the 2024 general election. Where other scandals, like allegations of racism during Farage’s schooldays, have largely failed to stick, this one has.
Awkward interviews of Farage attempting to rebut questions and insisting “no one cares” about the payment have gone viral. He is under investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog and has been referred to that body again over the allegations in Sunday’s report. Such scrutiny has also spotlighted the unusually large income Farage has earned outside his role as an MP.
While MPs are allowed to have second jobs, provided they don’t offer paid parliamentary advice, Farage has declared more than £2 million in other incomes since entering parliament in 2024, according to publicly available records. That’s more than 20 times the basic salary an MP earns, and the second highest in this parliament after former prime minister Rishi Sunak, according to The Financial Times.
Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick told the BBC Sunday “no rules have been broken” over allegations Cottrell allowed Farage to stay in a London townhouse, paid for staff to transform Farage’s social media presence and paid for security since they were before Farage became an MP.
Jenrick sought to characterize these gifts as “purely personal,” a category normally reserved for presents from family members, meaning they would not need to be disclosed under parliamentary rules even if they happened in the year before Farage was elected to parliament.
A spokesman for Farage echoed that defense to CNN, calling the story “baseless and contrived.”
Farage has given noticeably fewer press conferences in the months since the Guardian story broke, though that period also coincided with two months of campaigning for the local elections and Makerfield by-election.
The watchdog investigating him hasn’t reported its findings yet, but the consequences for Farage are significant if they rule against him. If he is found to have seriously breached parliament’s rules, he could be suspended. A suspension of more than 10 days could trigger the start of a process that could lead to a by-election.
Yet Farage has weathered plenty of previous controversy and for the moment, his party retains its advantage in the polls. It’s not yet clear if this saga, which has arrived as Farage is at his strongest politically, is different.
The-CNN-Wire
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