FactCheck takes a look.
What is a ‘gift’ in politics?
MPs are allowed to accept gifts from donors, but they are meant to declare these, as well as any other financial interests that “might reasonably be thought to influence their actions, speeches or votes in parliament,” according to the Institute for Government.
This could include things like travel tickets, meals, accommodation, clothing, club subscriptions and loans, amongst other items.
MPs can only receive gifts worth more than £500 if it’s from a “permissible source”, which includes individuals on a UK electoral register, UK-registered companies and some UK-registered organisations.
They have to declare any gifts or benefits above £300 in value if they are received in their capacity as an MP and they must also register any gift received by third parties if it was given because of their MP status.
The name and address of the donor, the value of the gift, and the dates of receipt and acceptance must be registered in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests within 28 days of receiving it.
Was the £5m given to Nigel Farage a gift – and did he buy his million pound house with it?
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage has been asked on multiple occasions about the nature of the £5m – given to him before the 2024 election – and each time he has said that the money was a “gift” to pay for his personal security.
But the reason behind this gifting became confused recently when Mr Harborne, a cryptocurrency investor and Reform’s biggest financial backer, told The Telegraph in April that he gave the money to Mr Farage “because of my great admiration for the decades of work he had done to achieve Brexit”.
Further questions surrounding this money were raised when Sky News revealed last week that Mr Farage bought a £1.4m house shortly after receiving the money from Mr Harborne.
Land registry documents seen by the BBC showed that Mr Farage completed on the property in Surrey on 10 May 2024.
The same documents show that the purchase was made in cash with no mortgage.
But in a statement to Sky, a spokesperson for Reform said: “The relevant chronology is straightforward. The offer and purchase process for the property commenced before the gift.
“Mr Farage had already passed proof of funds and the relevant checks before receiving the gift. The purchase was therefore already proceeding independently of it.”
In the same week, Reform told the BBC that the money for the house came from Mr Farage’s stint on reality TV show ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ in December 2023, when the Reform leader came third in the show and was reportedly paid a seven-figure sum.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to prove where the money for the property came from as it was a cash purchase, as the documents show.
Why is this money being investigated – and what happens next?
The Conservative Party recently wrote to Parliament’s standards watchdog about the £5m given to Mr Farage and on 13 May, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner launched an inquiry.
He is being investigated under rule 5 of the House of Commons code of conduct – failure to register an interest.
There are numerous requirements which fall under this, including that “new MPs must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election”.
The £5m payment did not appear on Mr Farage’s declaration of interests and only became public knowledge after first being reported by The Guardian in April.
Mr Farage said he was under “no obligation” to declare the gift because it had been given before he was an MP, but his opponents have argued he should have declared it in the MPs’ register of interests when he was elected to Parliament in 2024.
A spokesman for Reform said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
“He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.”
Punishments for breaking the code range from a written or oral apology to suspension from the House – or even expulsion in the most serious cases.
The investigation outcome usually depends on whether the failure was deemed to be deliberate or inadvertent. There’s no current timeline for how long this investigation could take.
The Conservatives also raised concerns about the £5m gift with the Electoral Commission, which said it was considering the information, but there’s been no update on this as of yet.