Labour has accused Reform UK of being “up to its neck in sleaze” as it called on the Electoral Commission to urgently investigate substantial donations made to the party by the mother of a convicted fraudster.
Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s new chair, called on the commission to examine whether any rules had been broken, after revelations in the Guardian that George Cottrell transferred more than $۲m to his mother in the days before her donations to the party in ۲۰۲۴.
A Labour spokesperson said Reform was “up to [its] neck in sleaze and dodgy money”.
The commission has already made a referral to the Metropolitan police, who are looking into whether Reform may have been concealing or disguising donations derived from an “impermissible” donor.
The Guardian has since reported that Cottrell’s mother, Fiona Cottrell, received several tranches of money adding up to more than $۲m, which she attributed to her son, according to financial industry sources. Her son is a close ally and adviser to Nigel Farage.
Transfers were then made either directly to Reform or via Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle for the political party, according to sources.
In her letter, Phillipson said the Guardian’s new revelations “may be relevant to the question of whether the true source of political donations made to Reform UK has been correctly identified and whether the statutory requirements governing permissible donors have been complied with”.
A Labour spokesperson said it was now time for Reform to seriously address the allegations. “If these latest claims about George Cottrell are true, Reform may have taken money from a convicted fraudster who was the ultimate source of the donations,” the party said. “That would mean Reform accepted his money even though he has never shown he was legally allowed to donate to a political party at the time.
“With every passing day it’s clearer that Reform think the rules don’t apply to them. They need to wake up and start treating these allegations with the seriousness they deserve and come clean about who is really bankrolling the party.”
At a press conference on Thursday, Reform’s economics spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, ducked specific questions about the donations.
In testy exchanges with reporters, he said the story “has been going on for a long time”, but he did not engage with the substance of the allegations.
He told the BBC: “We are entirely confident that Reform followed all electoral rules at the time when the donations were made. Of course, we’ll participate with any inquiries. To the best of my knowledge, we haven’t even been contacted by the police, so I don’t think we have anything more to add to that.”
Jenrick suggested that journalists should be questioning George Cottrell, and said they should return to the intended subject matter of the press conference, which was social care. “Reform is certain that all the electoral rules were followed,” he told ITV. “If you’ve got a question for Mr Cottrell then I think you have to direct that to him.”
The Met’s investigation is examining donations to Reform, including those from Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle whose director is the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice. The firm gave Reform two donations of £۲۵۰,۰۰۰ in the run-up to the ۲۰۲۴ general election. These were first revealed by the Guardian.
Cottrell, who was convicted for fraud in the US, now lives in Montenegro but is seen often alongside Farage. He has previously been described as Farage’s chief of staff but Reform has maintained that he is only a volunteer.
Asked about the transfers, lawyers for Cottrell said their client had no further comment.
In previous legal correspondence, Cottrell has not denied giving his mother – who is understood to be of relatively modest means – large sums of money. Instead, he said via lawyers that “any political donations his mother has made have been entirely her own decision, and are a matter for her”.
Fiona Cottrell has not responded to several attempts by the Guardian to contact her.
Asked on Wednesday for a response to the story, a Reform spokesperson said: “Reform takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always ensures that the Electoral Commission guidelines on donations, as set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act ۲۰۰۰, are strictly followed, as has been the case with all donations.”
Farage is fighting a byelection after resigning his seat of Clacton. All other mainstream parties have declined to stand a candidate against him, though there are ۳۴ independents on the ballot paper, including novelty candidates such as Count Binface.
