The Reform UK leader declared almost £400,000 in payments late
Reform leader Nigel Farage breached the MPs’ code of conduct 17 times after repeatedly failing to declare his financial interests on time.
MPs must register financial interests within 28 days. An investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, found Farage repeatedly missed that deadline.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint from a member of the public, who cited a “clear and obvious failure” by Farage to keep his register of interests up to date.
Farage failed to declare payments from his multiple second jobs on time, including five GB News payments of almost £200,000. He received these payments between February and July but did not declare them until October.
He also disclosed nearly £26,000 from speaking engagements months late. He received the payments in May and June but only declared them in October.
Greenberg also found that the Reform leader had declared a payment of £91,200 from Direct Bullion late. He also failed to declare £17,174 from recording personalised video clips on Cameo and over £5,000 from Google on time.
In total, Farage declared £384,064 in payments late.
In a letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on 12 November, Farage said that the failure to declare his interests on time was an “administrative error”.
Farage, who holds at least 12 ‘second’ jobs, also said: “Unlike most Members, I have a very complicated and complex set of interests, including my work as a TV presenter and as a successful private businessman, most of which were built long before I was elected as a Member of Parliament.
“Compared to most MPs, I have an unusually high number of interests which need to be declared, and I have always and will always continue to declare these.”
Pressed by the commissioner to explain the “administrative error”, Farage said in a letter on 2 December that he had been “extremely let down by a very senior member of staff” and asked to discuss the matter “privately and confidentially” in an in-person meeting.
In his report, Greenberg stated: “Having met with Mr Farage to discuss how these late registrations occurred, I concluded that the failure to register these interests on time was inadvertent because of staffing and other administrative issues.”
The Commissioner also noted that Farage had “acknowledged and apologised for his breaches” of the MPs’ code of conduct.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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