Nigel Farage’s victory celebrations could be over before his newly minted councillors have even taken up their positions, as pressure builds over his undeclared £5m donation from Christopher Harborne.
Last week, the Guardian revealed that Reform’s leader had received a seven-figure sum from the Thailand-based crypto billionaire just weeks before announcing he would stand in the 2024 general election – reversing a decision he had made shortly before.
During the remainder of the election campaign, Farage backed out of planned media appearances and avoided answering journalists’ questions on the matter.
However, when parliament returns on Wednesday, he will no longer be able to avoid such scrutiny.
Speaking to The Observer this weekend, Keir Starmer said: “There are so many questions that Nigel Farage has to answer in relation to this, and there is a reason that he’s running away from those questions. I think he should be subject to more scrutiny by parliament, by the media, by the public in relation to this.”
The prime minister added: “There’s a reason that [Farage] is walking away from interviews where questions are being put to him. He doesn’t want to answer the questions because he knows that those answers are not going to be very good for him.”
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “There is something very strange and quite fishy about Farage’s £5m.
“It is a huge amount of money. More than most people will earn in a lifetime. Farage claims to be plain-spoken, so he should be honest that it wasn’t just for personal security.”
The Clacton MP is now facing two possible probes: one by the Electoral Commission, which has been considering whether his failure to declare the sum may have breached electoral law; and a standards commissioner investigation to see whether Farage has breached the members’ code of conduct.
The Electoral Commission will decide whether to launch a formal investigation as early as this week, The Observer understands, with the team weighing up the extent to which the cash was used for Reform party purposes. The regulator has received a number of complaints, and is expected to respond to those who raised the issue before contacting Farage himself.
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While this probe is potentially more serious, a parliamentary investigation has personal repercussions for Farage himself. Sources suggest that the issue may be sufficiently serious as to warrant a lengthy suspension, triggering a recall petition – and likely a byelection in Clacton.
Those same sources argue that Farage’s defence – that he was using the £5m to pay for security – could backfire, even though he received the money prior to becoming an MP.
Bernard Jenkin, who sat on the committee which investigated former prime minister Boris Johnson over the “partygate” affair during the pandemic, told The Observer: “If he received such a donation during the 12 months before he was elected, and it was in any way connected with his plans to stand for parliament, then it would be declarable.”
Malcolm Rifkind, a former chair of the Commons’ committee on standards, said a “legitimate question” was whether Farage had continued to make use of the donation during his time as an MP.
“He claims it is OK because he was a private citizen when he received the donation – but if the purpose was to pay for security as an ongoing requirement, still happening while we speak – as a matter of basic common sense, he should have disclosed it.”
A senior official who was also involved in the partygate investigation added: “It’s hard to see how they wouldn’t investigate and impose a sanction.
“[Farage] is saying it’s about security. Well, if that is true, it’s in part because he’s an MP… But setting aside his own rationale, such a donation for any MP should be disclosed.
“In my view, it is impossible to say there isn’t at least a perception of a conflict or obligation created.”
Another source added: “If Farage received this in the year before he was elected, then it should have been declared, no doubt about it.
“My forecast would be that Farage will receive a lengthy suspension, which could trigger a byelection, but that he would relish this and storm back to victory because the good burghers of Clacton would think that he was being clobbered by the establishment.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We have complied with all relevant rules and regulations.”
Photograph by John Nguyen/JNVisuals