It’s the story that just won’t go away for Nigel Farage – the undeclared £5m payment he took from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Farage received the money from Harborne – who has since gone on to donate £12m to Reform UK – in 2024, just weeks before announcing his change of heart in standing in the general election that year.
The Reform leader hasn’t been particularly keen to answer questions on the topic, and is now facing a formal investigation from the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he broke Commons rules by not declaring the sum.
But here’s a little reminder in case you’ve forgotten: Farage has already had a run-in with the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner this year.
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17 breaches of MPs Code of Conduct
Back in January, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg, found there were 17 occasions when the the Reform UK leader had failed to register financial interests on time.
MPs must register financial interests within 28 days, a deadline Farage repeatedly missed.
The breaches culminated to over £380,000 in external income for Farage, payments which included appearances on GB News and money earned through the Cameo app.
In an apology, the Clacton MP took full responsibility for the errors, but said he had been let down by a senior member of staff who he relied on to submit his income to the register of interests.
Farage also blamed “severe growing pains” as Reform UK had been overwhelmed by administration and emails as a result of its expansion since the 2024 general election.
He added that he was an “oddball” who was “not computer literate”, and that this had also contributed to him missing the deadline to register payments.
Greenberg accepted the breaches has been inadvertent.
Latest developments surrounding £5m payment
Farage has been adamant that he did not have to declare the money, which he has previously said was given to him by Harborne so he could cover the cost of personal security.
However, in an interview with the Sun’s Harry Cole, Farage said the money was given to him as a “reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
It has also been reported that Farage completed the purchase of a £1.4m property shortly after receiving the Harborne money.
Reform have said the purchase of the property was unrelated to Harborne’s payment and was instead funded with Farage’s fee from appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.