Nigel Farage struck a secret deal to return as Reform UK’s leader months before the general election, according to reports.
The Sunday Times claims Farage negotiated a pact with Richard Tice, then-party leader, in March and April 2024.
George Cottrell, the convicted fraudster known as “posh George” who reportedly bankrolled Farage, supervised the conversations.
The newspaper reports that once Farage became leader, he would repay or write off more than £1 million in loans Reform had received from Tice’s firm.
If accurate, the existence of this pact casts doubt on Farage’s previous claim that he did not intend to return to frontline politics until June 2024 when he announced his plan to run to be the Clacton MP.
Farage has used this claim to defend his failure to declare a £5 million gift to parliament in the year before he was elected to the Commons.
The Reform leader has repeatedly claimed the lump sum from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne was not for political purposes and so did not need to be added to the register of MPs’ interests.
He told the Triggernometry podcast last month that he was a broadcaster when he received the donation, describing himself as “an influencer” who wasn’t in politics.
A parliamentary probe into the donation was launched earlier this year but was paused after Farage chose to trigger a by-election in Clacton over what he described as an “establishment stitch-up”.
Asked about this supposed deal with Tice, Reform sources told HuffPost UK Farage was trying to find out the party liabilities and what loans would have to be repaid if he did return to frontline politics.
They claimed he decided he would not come back, before changing his mind, and said he was essentially trying to keep his options open.
Farage is currently fighting the Clacton by-election, but all major parties have refused to stand a candidate calling it a political stunt.
His main opponent is comedy character, Count Binface.
If Farage wins and returns to the Commons, the probe into his £5 million donation will resume.
The investigation could still punish him for failing to declare the lump sum to parliament and trigger a second by-election in Clacton.
Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson slammed the Sunday Times report, saying: “Farage and Reform think the rules don’t apply to them. But as more of the truth comes out, the net is closing in.
“If accurate, this revelation blows Nigel Farage’s story apart. It would mean Farage was privately negotiating his return to frontline politics while publicly presenting as someone who hadn’t decided whether to return. That raises even more questions about the secret £5 million gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, further undermining his account of why he kept it secret.
“Grubby pacts, secret gifts, support from a convicted fraudster, attempted cover-ups and police investigations – it all adds up to a stench of sleaze the public can smell from miles away.”