Speculation is mounting that Nigel Farage could quit as Reform UK leader – or even be forced out – after he was hit by fresh allegations of another personal financial scandal.
Private concerns have been raised by Mr Farage’s allies he is on borrowed time after questions over his relationship with convicted criminal George Cottrell – nicknamed “Posh George” – emerged over the weekend.
The row saw Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick claim that the media are part of an establishment conspiracy to discredit Mr Farage and stop him becoming PM.
In an extraordinary interview on Sky News, Mr Jenrick launched a furious attack on presenter Sir Trevor Phillips, claiming the media was “muck raking” about Mr Farage to keep Labour in power.
He dismissed claims that Mr Farage has “become a liability” and is about to quit as Reform leader as “daft” and insisted: “He will be Britain’s next prime minister.”
But privately, a number of Mr Farage’s allies have raised concerns with The Independent about whether he is nearing the end of his run as Reform leader as the party appears to be running out of steam and sliding in the polls.
Meanwhile, Tory former home secretary James Cleverly noted: “At some point soon there will be an inflection point where senior Reform people view Farage as more of a liability than an asset.
“At that point they turn on him and I think that point is quite soon.”
Just last week, it was revealed that Mr Farage had hired the journalist Miles Goslett as a new communications chief after he had helped Lord Ashcroft write a biography of the Reform UK leader. It is understood the hire is part of a strategy for the embattled Mr Farage to avoid the mainstream media and start doing more with his social media, substacks and a new podcast.
Mr Jenrick’s attack on the media appeared to reflect a growing sense of panic that the party could be overtaken in the polls by Labour with Andy Burnham at the helm, with the inevitability of Mr Farage being the next PM fading rapidly.
It came as The Sunday Times reported allegations that Mr Farage had not declared donations from his close friend and convicted criminal George Cottrell, nicknamed “Posh George”.
Mr Jenrick insisted the gifts to Mr Farage, allegedly including paying for his security and a stay at a five-storey town house near Buckingham Palace, as well as recruiting and paying three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, were “in a personal capacity” and happened before Mr Farage was an MP.
He described it as “an old story” and said: “There is nothing to see here.”
Mr Jenrick’s defence of the “posh George” allegations was similar to that given over the £5 million gift Mr Farage received from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Chris Harborne which also happened before the Reform UK leader was an MP.
“Nigel has good friends,” Mr Jenrick added.
But Labour health secretary James Murray and the Lib Dems have both called for a sleaze inquiry into the Reform UK leader who has also faced questions about not declaring three of his five homes in the register of interest.
Currently, Mr Farage and his allies are out in America celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence where he is to be a guest at Donald Trump’s reception and has had a meeting with vice president JD Vance.
Sources there have told The Independent that he is still telling American friends that he wants to be prime minister.
However, he faces a number of questions.
MPs are supposed to declare gifts from the 12 months before they become an MP although there is a clause which allows them not to if it is “in a personal capacity”. After becoming the MP for Clacton in 2024, Mr Farage registered a £9,000 trip to Belgium donated by Mr Cottrell, and belatedly added £15,000 for a US domestic flight, but no other support.
Sir Trevor pointed out that Mr Farage had gone to ground since the £5 million allegations broke and a parliamentary standards inquiry was launched into him.
Weekly press conferences have stopped and, recently, Mr Farage pulled out of an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg at the last minute.
Meanwhile, Reform has been slipping in the polls to an average of 25 per cent having his around 35 per cent at one point last year.
And there are signs that Labour is already getting a “Burnham bounce” even before Mr Burnham, who crushed Reform in the Makerfield by-election, has even been officially made Labour leader and prime minister.
But an angry Mr Jenrick insisted there was a plot to bring Mr Farage down because “he is the only political leader capable of saving this country.”
He blasted: “What I find astonishing about the article, Trevor, is that we have Andy Burnham about to become our prime minister. The media is doing absolutely nothing to scrutinise this.
“What does he intend to do? And you’ve got a Labour newspaper like the Sunday Times, putting this story on the front page.
“You’re trying to drag Nigel down. Nigel is not going anywhere. Nigel is going to keep working hard to ensure that we get the change that this country actually needs.”
He went on: “People are desperate for change. Their bills are going through the roof, their wages are going nowhere. They’re sick. The small boats arriving all the time, they think the country is going down the toilet, and we need to make sure we’ve got a government with real change and a strong leader at the helm, that is Nigel.”
Cottrell was jailed for eight months in the US in 2017 after pleading guilty to a charge of wire fraud after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer.
He was arrested as he and Mr Farage travelled back to Britain following a trip to the US.