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Nigel Farage has been reported to the Metropolitan Police over allegations of misconduct in public office, after failing to declare a £5 million “gift” from a crypto billionaire.
Leading democracy groups Unlock Democracy and Compassion in Politics wrote to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner calling for the force to “investigate whether Nigel Farage MP may have committed the offence of misconduct in public office” for failing to disclose the money he received from Christopher Harborne, shortly before he announced he was running for Parliament in 2024.
The groups are demanding the Met Police investigates whether the non-disclosure of this payment amounts to “a wilful breach of the duties of public office – serious enough to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust.”
Convictions for misconduct in public office are rare, and exceedingly rare for elected politicians. Convictions in recent years have typically concerned corrupt police officers or civil servants.
The Guardian reported recently that Farage told allies he would need “a million a year” to cover lost earnings if he stood to be an MP, or roughly £5 million over a full Parliament. Farage has denied any wrongdoing and has sought to blame “the establishment” for drawing attention to the gift.
Lawyers for Harborne told the paper he “expected nothing in return” and “did not envisage Mr Farage returning to politics” when he gave the cash, which Farage has variously said was for security costs or a reward for his role in the Brexit vote.
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The Reform leader has also claimed the donation “wasn’t political in any sense at all”, and that he “wasn’t in politics” at the time. He was a director of Reform UK at the time however, a GB News host, and prominent right-wing pundit on social media.
On May 1 2024, he became a “person with significant control” of Reform’s controlling company, around three weeks after the Harborne donation. It would need to be tested whether this would constitute “public office” under the law.
Farage triggered a by-election after Parliament’s Standards Commissioner announced he was investigating the alleged non-disclosure of the £5 million donation, and was assessing other complaints – including allegations he failed to disclose properties he owns, and funding from ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell before his election.
Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake told Byline Times: “Whilst it is clear Mr Farage denies any wrongdoing regarding the £5 million donation he received, we have asked the Met to assess whether his role as a public officer, the size and timing of the donation, combined with the requirements placed on MPs to report financial interests…provide the basis for police inquiries.”
In correspondence with Brake, the Commissioner’s office confirmed it had received the report.
“I can confirm that it has been received by the Commissioner’s Private Office. We are preparing a response and will revert in due course,” a Met Police official told Brake.
Jennifer Nadel, director of Compassion in Politics, added: “Democracy depends on trust and transparency.”
“With trust in politicians at a dangerously low level, it is essential that those who hold public office are held and seen to be held to the highest standards.”
Don’t miss a story
Adverts Target Farage’s Donors
The move comes as campaigners from activist group Climate Resistance replaced bus stop adverts across London on Wednesday night to “call out Nigel Farage’s establishment ties and undeclared donations.”
The actions come on the eve of Thursday’s by-election in Clacton. In announcing the by-election, Farage claimed that the election would be “the people versus the establishment.”
The advert messaging seeks to highlight Farage’s ultra-wealthy donors and wider establishment ties.
Investigations into the legitimacy of the donations and the influence of ultra-rich donors on Farage are expected to resume if he is re-elected, as expected, this week.
It was recently revealed that police are looking into whether George Cottrell made donations via his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in order to disguise the ultimate source of the money, something lawyers for Cottrell have strongly denied.
A second fake advert states “If your mate sends you a ‘gift’ worth more than Clacton Pier, then you are the Establishment,” referencing Harborne’s undeclared £5 million donation and what it could buy Farage. Jaywick, a seaside town within Farage’s Clacton constituency, is England’s most deprived neighbourhood.
Reform UK and Nigel Farage were contacted for comment.
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Letter in Full
Dear Commissioner,
Re: Request for investigation into possible misconduct in public office
We write to ask the Metropolitan Police to investigate whether Nigel Farage MP may have committed the offence of misconduct in public office, in connection with the reported non-disclosure of the £5 million he received before he entered Parliament.
Mr Farage denies wrongdoing.
As you will know, misconduct in public office is committed when:
- a public officer acting as such
- wilfully neglects to perform their duty and/or wilfully misconducts themselves
- to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder
- without reasonable excuse or justification
Since his election in July 2024 Mr Farage has been a public officer (MPs are held to be public officers).
We ask the Met to consider whether he wilfully neglected to perform his duty (as set out in parliamentary rules) to report receiving this £5 million. The MPs Code of Conduct ‘requires new Members, within one month of their election, to register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election.’ We also ask the Met to consider whether not declaring a very large donation, thereby avoiding the scrutiny that such a donation would attract, constitutes wilful misconduct.
The code also states that, ‘When considering registration, Members are also required to keep in mind the overall purpose of the Register, which is to provide information about any financial interest or other material benefit which a Member receives which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or actions taken in his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament. If a Member has any financial interests which meet that purpose but which do not fall clearly into one of the defined categories, he or she is nonetheless required to register them, normally under the Miscellaneous category.’
The failure to disclose the £5 million, a significant material benefit which could ‘reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or actions taken in his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament’, might constitute an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder.
MPs are expected to understand and follow the MPs Code of Conduct and it is not clear what reasonable excuse or justification there can be for not doing so.
We consider, given the scale of the reported payment, the public office Nigel Farage now holds, the existing parliamentary standards process, and the forthcoming Clacton by-election, the matter merits investigation.
A reported payment of £5 million to someone who shortly afterwards became an MP raises serious questions about potential influence, independence, transparency and public trust. Past cases involving parliamentarians’ financial conduct have shown that such matters are not automatically confined to internal parliamentary processes where the facts may point to possible criminal wrongdoing.
To summarise we ask the Metropolitan Police to:
- investigate possible misconduct in public office by Nigel Farage in relation to the £5 million gift or donation he received
- confirm whether an investigation has been initiated
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Jennifer Nadel
CEO, Compassion in Politics
Tom Brake
CEO, Unlock Democracy
Got a story? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
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