Liz Saville Roberts MP requests formal investigation from Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into Reform UK Leader
Today (Monday 6 July) Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP has called on the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to conduct a formal investigation into the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage on the basis that he may have breached the MP Code of Conduct.
This refers specifically to gifts and benefits he received from George Cottrell in the 12 months leading up to the 2024 General Election. The Code of Conduct states that new Members must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election.
However, The Sunday Times reported on 4 July 2026 that Nigel Farage accepted substantial benefits from Mr Cottrell, but failed to declare them. He contributed to the Reform UK leader’s political positioning and public profile in the year preceding the election, including paying for his security for several years, funding three staff members to work on his social media output, paying for transport, and providing the use of his property near Buckingham Palace.
In 2016, George Cottrell was arrested in the US after being caught agreeing to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers in an FBI sting operation. Cottrell faced 20 years in jail for 21 counts related to money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion. But he eventually brokered a plea deal, admitted guilt to a charge of wire fraud and ended up serving just eight months in prison.
Mr Farage is already under investigation for an undeclared £5 million foreign donation he received from crypto billionaire, Christopher Harborne in the year leading up to the 2024 General Election.
In her letter, Ms Saville Roberts states that a “pattern of undeclared” benefits from Mr Cottrell, combined with the substantial financial involvement of Christopher Harborne, and the nature of the sectors from which both men derived their wealth meets the threshold at which an investigation into Nigel Farage MP’s conduct should be held.
