Speculation is mounting that Nigel Farage could quit as Reform UK leader – or even be forced out – after he was hit by fresh allegations of another personal financial scandal.
Private concerns have been raised by Mr Farage’s allies that he is on borrowed time after questions over his relationship with convicted criminal George Cottrell – nicknamed “Posh George” – emerged over the weekend.
Mr Cottrell, Mr Farage’s longtime aide, is said to have provided funding for the Reform leader’s operation – including for staffing, security and housing – before the 2024 general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian townhouse he rented near Buckingham Palace, according to an investigation by The Sunday Times.
The revelations prompted calls for Mr Farage to face an investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards.
Mr Farage has strenuously denied the claims, while Reform’s Treasury spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, responded by claiming the media are part of an establishment conspiracy to discredit his Reform colleague and stop him becoming prime minister.
Mr Farage said he was the victim of an “establishment hit job” and added: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times.
“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”
In an extraordinary interview on Sky News, Mr Jenrick launched a furious attack on presenter Sir Trevor Phillips, claiming the media was “muck-raking” about Mr Farage to keep Labour in power. He dismissed claims Mr Farage has “become a liability” and is about to quit as Reform leader as “daft” and insisted: “He will be Britain’s next prime minister.”
But privately, a number of Mr Farage’s allies have raised concerns with The Independent about whether he is nearing the end of his run, with the party sliding in the polls.
Meanwhile, Tory former home secretary James Cleverly said: “At some point soon, there will be an inflection point where senior Reform people view Farage as more of a liability than an asset.
“At that point they turn on him, and I think that point is quite soon.”
Mr Jenrick’s attack on the media on Sunday appeared to reflect a growing sense of panic that the party could be overtaken in the polls by Labour with Andy Burnham at the helm, with the inevitability of Mr Farage being the next PM fading rapidly.
Just last week, it was revealed that Mr Farage had hired the journalist Miles Goslett as a new communications chief after he had helped Lord Ashcroft write a biography of the Reform leader. It is understood the hire is part of a strategy for the embattled Mr Farage to avoid the mainstream media and start doing more with his social media, substacks and a new podcast.
Mr Jenrick, meanwhile, insisted the gifts to Mr Farage were “in a personal capacity” and happened before he was an MP.
He described it as “an old story” and said: “There is nothing to see here.”
Mr Jenrick’s defence of the “posh George” allegations was similar to that given over the £5m gift Mr Farage received from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Chris Harborne, which also happened before the Reform leader was an MP.
“Nigel has good friends,” Mr Jenrick added.
But Labour health secretary James Murray and the Lib Dems have both called for a sleaze inquiry into Mr Farage, who has also faced questions about not declaring three of his five homes in the register of interests.
Lib Dem president Josh Babarinde said on X (Twitter): “Nigel Farage has made a career out of ‘taking back control’ – but he is not being straight with the British people about who controls him. I have written to the standards commissioner to urge that the latest revelations are investigated.”
Mr Murray supported the demands, claiming that Mr Farage has a “flexible relationship with transparency” and that there were “a lot of questions for him to answer”.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, he said: “Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me, because I think quite a lot of questions come up in relation to his finances.”
Mr Farage is currently in the US celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, where he is to be a guest at Donald Trump’s reception and has had a meeting with vice-president JD Vance.
Sources there have told The Independent that Mr Farage is still telling American friends that he wants to be prime minister.
However, he faces a number of questions.
MPs are supposed to declare gifts from the 12 months before they become an MP, although there is a clause which allows them not to if it is “in a personal capacity”. After becoming the MP for Clacton in 2024, Mr Farage registered a £9,000 trip to Belgium donated by Mr Cottrell, and belatedly added £15,000 for a US domestic flight, but no other support.
Sir Trevor pointed out that Mr Farage had gone to ground since the £5m allegations broke and a parliamentary standards inquiry was launched into him.
Weekly press conferences have stopped and, recently, Mr Farage pulled out of an interview with Ms Kuenssberg at the last minute.
Meanwhile, Reform has been slipping in the polls to an average of 25 per cent, having been around 35 per cent at one point last year.
And there are signs that Labour is already getting a “Burnham bounce” even before Mr Burnham, who crushed Reform in the Makerfield by-election, has been officially made Labour leader and prime minister.
But an angry Mr Jenrick insisted there was a plot to bring Mr Farage down because “he is the only political leader capable of saving this country”.
He blasted: “What I find astonishing about the article, Trevor, is that we have Andy Burnham about to become our prime minister. The media is doing absolutely nothing to scrutinise this.
“What does he intend to do? And you’ve got a Labour newspaper like the Sunday Times, putting this story on the front page.
“You’re trying to drag Nigel down. Nigel is not going anywhere. Nigel is going to keep working hard to ensure that we get the change that this country actually needs.”
He went on: “People are desperate for change. Their bills are going through the roof, their wages are going nowhere. They’re sick. The small boats are arriving all the time, they think the country is going down the toilet, and we need to make sure we’ve got a government with real change and a strong leader at the helm. That is Nigel.”
Mr Cottrell was jailed for eight months in the US in 2017 after pleading guilty to a charge of wire fraud after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer.
He was arrested as he and Mr Farage travelled back to Britain following a trip to the US.
