Nigel Farage has confirmed he will deliver a major address to the nation at 2pm on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, regarding his political future. The Reform UK leader announced the video statement on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after 12 noon, stating that he will not take questions or elaborate further on the contents of the clip.
Background of the Sleaze Inquiry
Farage is at the center of an ongoing sleaze inquiry over allegations that he failed to correctly report a £5m gift from Christopher Harborne, a cryptocurrency billionaire, before the last general election. If the allegations are upheld, the MP could face suspension from the Commons, potentially triggering a by-election in his Clacton constituency.
Second Investigation into Undeclared Donations
Farage is also facing a second investigation concerning undeclared donations from George Cottrell, one of his closest associates, who has been convicted of wire fraud in the US. Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has written to the commission arguing that the Cottrell gifts “exceed the £500 threshold for checking permissibility and the £2,230 threshold for reporting donations to the Electoral Commission.”
Turley's Statement and Letter
In a statement to journalists, Turley said: "Serious allegations of rule breaking are already being assessed by the Parliamentary authorities. It is now abundantly clear that Mr Farage may have not only broken parliamentary rules, he may have broken the law. Farage can’t brazenly brush this off as being 'none of your business' any longer. He needs to own his self-inflicted scandal and prove he’s not been secretly breaking the rules and taking the British public for fools."
Turley's letter to the commission detailed: "During the period in question (from the second half of 2023 until the 2024 general election), Mr Farage was a member of Reform UK, its honorary president and, with Reform UK being a private limited company at the time, the owner of the majority of its shares. Mr Farage was highly active as a Reform member and campaigner over this period. For example, he was a speaker at Reform UK’s Conference on 8 October 2023; he posted regularly in support of Reform UK on X; and, as The Sunday Times reports, his video output created in conjunction with the staff funded by Mr Cottrell was highly political and strongly supportive of Reform UK."
Details of the Allegations
According to reports, Farage's daily videos about an "invasion" of illegal migrants crossing the Channel, net zero U-turns from Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, and the "dreadful" Black Lives Matter movement garnered hundreds of thousands of views. He also continued to champion Reform, sharing a video bearing the party’s turquoise logo and encouraging viewers to vote at the October by-elections. “My efforts and my work will be solely behind Richard Tice and Reform UK,” he boasted in a video captioned “Reform is here to stay.”
Turley's letter further argued: "As you will be aware, Schedule 7 of PPERA says that a regulated donee may be 'a member of a registered party', and that a 'controlled donation' 'in relation to a member of a registered party means a donation received by that person which is (i) offered to him, or (ii) where it has been accepted, retained by him, for his use or benefit in connection with any of his political activities as a member of the party'. I believe that Mr Farage’s status within Reform UK, and his use of the resources provided by Mr Cottrell to produce campaigning material in support of Reform UK, and for his security during a period in which he was campaigning for Reform UK, engages this definition, such that Mr Cottrell’s donations are subject to regulation through having been made in connection with Mr Farage’s political activities in his capacity as a regulated donee."
