Nigel Farage admits discussing return to politics before £5m gift
Nigel Farage admitted he discussed returning to politics before receiving a five million pound gift, as Reform UK faces scrutiny over its declarations.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Nigel Farage has admitted he was discussing a return to frontline politics before receiving a £5 million gift that he did not declare to parliamentary authorities. The Reform UK leader said that in the spring of 2024 he had talked to Richard Tice, then the party's leader, about the potential liabilities he would face if he came back. The admission came during a news conference called to unveil Reform's new policy on small boats in the Channel.
Mr Farage received the £5 million donation from Christopher Harborne, a Thai-based crypto billionaire, in April 2024. He did not publicly announce the gift at the time, and his defence has always been that it was unrelated to politics and that he had no intention of returning to the front line. He only announced his decision to stand for Parliament on 3 June 2024. But on Sunday he conceded that in March and April of that year he was in negotiations about a possible return.
"In the spring of that year, I did talk to Richard Tice about what the liabilities would be if, if I was to come back to that position," he said. "You'd be a bit of a mug, wouldn't you, to walk into a job and not find out what the potential liabilities were."
The Labour Party chair, Bridget Phillipson, said the admission had blown a "gaping hole" in Mr Farage's defences. The parliamentary standards commissioner has also opened a new investigation into Richard Tice, now Reform's deputy leader, for allegedly failing to declare an interest before a debate on Israel. Mr Tice said the omission was an oversight.
Reform used the news conference to set out its plan to stop small boat crossings. The party wants the Royal Navy to pick up migrants in the Channel and take them back to France, rather than bringing them to the UK. The French government has already rejected the idea, saying it would violate their sovereignty. The policy is different from the previous Conservative government's plan to push back boats, but it faces the same practical problem of French cooperation.
Separately, Mr Farage revealed that he had reached out to Rupert Lowe, the leader of the new Restore Britain party, about a possible electoral pact. Mr Lowe responded by publishing a private message from Mr Farage, accusing him of being misleading. The two have since exchanged public barbs. Mr Lowe has set out conditions for any cooperation, including reversing mass immigration and deporting every illegal migrant. Mr Farage was withering about Restore's prospects, saying it had no hope of winning a single seat outside Great Yarmouth.
The row highlights the wider challenge on the right of British politics, with Reform and Restore potentially splitting the vote. Some commentators have urged unity to remove the Labour government, while others, including the political writer Brendan O'Neill, have warned that Restore is an anti-Reform party that cannot be trusted. Reform's former communications director, Gawain Towler, said the offer was "no deal at this point" and accused Mr Lowe of trying to sow dissent within Reform.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One | GB News | ITV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice is under investigation by parliamentary authorities for allegedly failing to declare an interest. | · | |||
| Reform UK proposes using the Royal Navy to take migrants back to France, potentially requiring landing on French beaches without permission if France refuses. | · | |||
| Nigel Farage admitted he was discussing a return to politics before the 2024 election and before receiving a five million pound gift. | · | · | ||
| The French Interior Ministry said Reform UK's plan would violate French sovereignty and international law. | · | · | ||
| Nigel Farage revealed he had reached out to Rupert Lowe about a possible electoral pact. | · | · | · | |
| Restore Britain achieved almost 50,000 votes in the Greater Manchester Mayoralty. | · | · | · | |
| Rupert Lowe calls for restoring Britain's demographic security and warns of Islamification. | · | · | · | |
| Rupert Lowe demands that ending mass immigration is not enough, it must be reversed, and every illegal migrant must be deported. | · | · | · | |
| Rupert Lowe was elected as a Reform UK MP under Nigel Farage's leadership. | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
GB News focused heavily on the political infighting between Reform UK and Restore Britain, particularly Nigel Farage's outreach to Rupert Lowe and the subsequent spat. The channel gave airtime to commentators who were deeply sceptical of any pact, framing Restore as an anti-Reform party driven by personal animosity. The £5 million gift admission was not the main focus; instead, the channel concentrated on the strategic implications for the right of British politics.
- “I'm highly sceptical about this, I really am because, you know, for the past few months, Restore has defined itself as an anti-reform party.”
- “It's no deal at this point.”
- “We need a change of government next time and another left-wing government goodness knows what's going to happen to our country if we don't rescue Britain from this direction we're heading in at the moment.”
ITV1 concentrated on the significance of Nigel Farage's admission about discussing a return to politics before the £5 million gift, treating it as a major development that undermined his previous defence. The channel also covered Reform's new small boats policy and the separate investigation into Richard Tice, providing a straightforward news report with analysis from its political correspondent. The tone was factual and slightly critical, highlighting the political damage to Farage.
- “He admitted today that in March and April 2024, he was in negotiations about returning to politics.”
- “In the spring of that year, I did talk to Richard Tice about what the liabilities would be if, if I was to come back to that position.”
- “It certainly does seem to undermine his original story, to a certain extent.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.