Nigel Farage denies breaking rules after receiving financial benefits from convicted criminal

By CLAIRE ELLICOTT, WHITEHALL EDITOR Published: 17:48, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 17:51, 5 July 2026 Nigel Farage has denied breaking parliamentary rules after it emerged that he has received financial support from a convicted criminal. The Reform UK leader accepted funding for staffing, security and accommodation from his close associate George Cottrell – known as Posh George. His colleague Robert Jenrick claimed ‘no rules have been broken’ because the payments were made before he became an MP. But the Sunday Times said he appeared to have broken parliamentary rules which require new MPs to register any ‘benefit’ received in the 12 months prior to their election. This includes any gift which exceeds £300 in value and is in ‘any way’ related to their political activities. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be declared, the rules state. Mr Cottrell, 32, is a long-standing friend and aide to Mr Farage, though he has no official role within the party. According to the newspaper, he recruited and paid three staff to improve Mr Farage’s social media presence before the election. He also allowed and continues to allow him to stay at a five-storey house near Buckingham Palace which he rents at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds a month. Nigel Farage denies breaking rules after receiving financial benefits from convicted criminal  And he appears to have funded his security despite Mr Farage’s claims that he had accepted a separate donation to pay for it. When he was elected in 2024, Mr Farage declared one gift from Mr Cottrell of round £9,000 to cover his costs to attend a Conservative conference in Belgium. But Mr Farage said he did not need to disclose the pre-election support because it predated his decision to run for Parliament. The MP – who at the time was Reform’s honorary president – said he did not need to disclose the use of the townhouse as it is provided by a close friend. The reports will prompt further scrutiny of Mr Farage’s financial affairs. The MP for Clacton is already under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner for accepting £5million from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. The negative headlines appear to be having an impact in the polls, with an Ipsos poll showing voters saying they are less satisfied with the job he is doing as leader than they were a year ago. Its findings on voting intention show the party falling a point down to 26per cent, with Labour gaining four and on 24per cent. The reports will also raise questions about the role of Mr Cottrell – who was jailed for participating in a US money laundering role in 2017. The aristocrat is seeking a pardon from President Trump, whose vice president Mr Farage has met in Washington. Mr Farage has been a major promoter of crypto currency, lobbying the Bank of England to drop plans for a state-run alternative to the digital currency. However, Mr Cottrell told the paper that he expected nothing in return for his support of Mr Farage and was motivated by their friendship and shared ideology. A spokesman for Nigel Farage said it was a ‘baseless and contrived story, covering a period of time when Nigel Farage was not even an active politician let alone an elected one’. He added that no parliamentary rules had been broken and accused the Sunday Times of having an agenda. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.