Nigel Farage has faced significant scrutiny over the £5m ‘gift’ he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024. This payment is proving to be a problem, because Farage failed to declare it; all despite knowing MPs have to declare potentially relevant gifts and donations from the 12 months before they enter Parliament.
Now, the activist groups Compassion in Politics and Unlock Democracy have reported Farage to the police over the much-discussed gift:
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Nigel Farage Reported to Met Police Over Alleged Misconduct in Public Office
The Reform UK leader’s non-disclosure of a £5 million ‘gift’ from a crypto billionaire could amount to a criminal offence, leading democracy groups allege
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— Byline Times (@BylineTimes) August 12, 2026
Farage the Gifted
Farage accepted the £5m gift from Harborne — a crypto billionaire — in 2024. At the time, he’d said he wouldn’t run in the general election, but this changed after he received the £5m. The problem is that after he became an MP, he was supposed to declare any ‘registrable benefits’ from the previous 12 months. Farage did not declare the £5m, and now it looks like he was purposefully trying to hide it.
The gift did seem to be potentially relevant, because Farage went on to shill for the crypto industry (somewhat suspicious, given the fact that his benefactor Harborne is a crypto billionaire). And as we added:
It also later emerged that Farage had seemingly agreed to return to politics before accepting the gift, adding to the evidence that the cash lump sum was political. Add to this the fact that Farage reportedly spoke aboutwanting £1 million a year to return to politics (and he then received a £5 million gift just before the start of a new five-year parliamentary period).
Given the circumstances, it’s no wonder people think the matter deserves more scrutiny than the currently-paused parliamentary investigation.
Speaking to Byline Times, Unlock Democracy director Tom Brake said:
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.
“Possible misconduct”
The letter from Compassion in Politics and Unlock Democracy reads:
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
Reform in retreat
Reform’s polling has been steadily declining throughout this scandal, with the Poll of Polls currently looking like this:
Crossover confirmed. Labour now ahead of Reform. pic.twitter.com/wugUvIP3Ds
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) August 11, 2026
We don’t know if the police will investigate Farage, but either way, it’s clear his political ambitions have been arrested.
Featured image via PA
By Willem Moore
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