Phil Kemp

The Metropolitan Police are investigating four £250,000 donations made to Reform UK in the weeks before the 2024 general election: two directly from donor Fiona Cottrell and two from Britain Means Business, a company solely controlled by the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice. Cottrell paid £1m to the company, which then donated £500,000 to Reform. The investigation concerns possible concealment or misrepresentation of an impermissible donation under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Two people have been interviewed under caution, but no arrests have been made. Tice denies prior knowledge and calls the police briefing politically motivated, while Reform says it followed donation rules. The case is linked to wider scrutiny of Cottrell’s son George Cottrell, Nigel Farage’s political ally and a former US fraud convict, as well as reports that related transactions were flagged through the National Crime Agency’s suspicious activity reporting system.