Police investigate Reform UK donations amid Farage by-election

British police are investigating at least £500,000 in donations to Reform UK as party leader Nigel Farage seeks to regain his parliamentary seat in a by-election triggered during growing scrutiny of his finances.

The Metropolitan Police said an investigation was launched in February 2025 after a referral from the Electoral Commission about donations made to a political party ahead of the 2024 UK general election. Detectives are examining alleged offences under Section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which governs political donations and prohibits foreign funding of political parties.

The inquiry concerns two £250,000 payments made to Reform before the election by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and longtime ally of Farage, according to reports by The Times cited by the BBC. Electoral Commission records show the donations appeared in Reform’s accounts on May 9 and May 29, 2024.

Police said two people have been interviewed under caution and no arrests have been made. The alleged offences being examined could include concealing or disguising donations from an impermissible donor, or using false information about a donation, including the amount or the donor’s identity.

“An offence under this section is not one that the Electoral Commission can investigate and, as such, it is a matter for the police,” a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman told the BBC. The Electoral Commission said it had no further comment on the continuing police investigation.

Reform sources told the BBC that no party officials have been interviewed. Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, told Times Radio that he had known the Cottrell family “for 50 years” and described the latest allegations as “a politically motivated smear campaign.”

The BBC reported that George Cottrell supported Farage before the 2024 election by paying for staff and security, benefits that were not declared after Farage became an MP. Lawyers for Cottrell said he “categorically disputes allegations and assertions made by the Sunday Times” about his financial help for Farage. Farage has denied wrongdoing and said he did not need to declare the benefits because they were not related to his political activity.

The scrutiny extends beyond the police inquiry. Farage is facing a parliamentary standards investigation into an undeclared £5 million payment he received before the 2024 election from cryptocurrency billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne, who lives in Thailand and is a major stakeholder in the stablecoin Tether. Farage has called the money an unconditional personal gift that did not need to be declared to parliamentary authorities. Al Jazeera reported that he has also described it as a reward for campaigning for Brexit and as a lifetime personal security fund.

Farage resigned this week as MP for Clacton, triggering an August 13 by-election in which he will stand again. He said he had “done nothing wrong” and framed the contest as “the people versus the establishment,” adding: “I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.”

Britain’s main political parties — Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats — said they would not field candidates, describing the contest as a stunt or distraction from Farage’s finances. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the resignation a “desperate stunt,” while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the contest as “fake” and accused Farage of throwing a “hissy fit,” according to NPR.

The race has drawn several unconventional candidates, including satirist Jon Harvey, better known as Count Binface, who campaigns dressed as a garbage can and describes himself as an “intergalactic space warrior from planet Sigma IX.” Asked by BBC Radio 4 what his appeal to Clacton voters would be, he replied: “That I’m not Nigel Farage.”