Richard Tice said he had known the family for 50 years and that Fiona Cottrell, the mother of convicted fraudster George, was a “permissible donor”.
According to The Times, Ms Cottrell made two £250,000 payments to Reform before the last general election in 2024, in which Mr Farage became an MP for the first time.
Both sums are said to have been given before Mr Farage announced his intention to stand in his former Commons seat of Clacton.
She also gave £1 million to Britain Means Business, described as a fundraising vehicle for the party which deputy leader Mr Tice is a director of, which was among transactions flagged by bankers to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in suspicious activity reports, according to the Guardian.
The Clacton MP resigned and called a by-election in which he will run, but his main opponent is likely to be parody candidate Count Binface, after mainstream parties refused to participate.
Farage by-election confirmed for 13 AugustThe by-election in Clacton triggered by Nigel Farage’s decision to quit and fight to regain his seat will be held on August 13, Tendring District Council has announced.
Holly Evans10 July 2026 11:06
Starmer to start final week in office with trip to ParisSir Keir Starmer will begin what is likely to be his final full week in No 10 with a trip to Paris.
The Prime Minister will join allies of Ukraine for a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” on Monday before joining Bastille Day events on Tuesday.
The outgoing Labour leader has been criticised in office for the amount of time he has spent on diplomatic missions overseas, with critics labelling him “never here Keir”.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister will travel to Paris on Monday for a meeting of the coalition of the willing to discuss continued support for Ukraine’s defence.
“On Tuesday, he will join Bastille Day commemorative events with other leaders.”
The coalition of the willing is the initiative established by Sir Keir and French president Emmanuel Macron to bring together countries willing to provide security support to Ukraine if there is an end to the hostilities.
Sir Keir’s support for Volodymyr Zelensky’s country has been one of the main elements of his foreign policy during his time in office.
French president Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer have led efforts to support Ukraine (Isabel Infantes/PA) (PA Wire)Holly Evans10 July 2026 11:03
Suspended Labour MP says Starmer ran the Parliamentary Labour Party as if it was the CPSA suspended Labour MP has said he believes Andy Burnham will be a better prime minister than Sir Keir Starmer, saying he ran the parliamentary Labour Party “as if he was running the Crown Prosecution Service”.
Karl Turner said Sir Keir would “ignore” the PLP and “couldn’t really manage” bringing Labour backbenchers with him on key policies.
“I think the reason was he treated the Parliamentary Labor Party as if he was running the Crown Prosecution Service,” he said on LBC.
“He’d been the director of public prosecutions, and he expected the PLP to jump to his tune.
“There was very often very little pitch rolling, there was no discussion on policy. It was, you know, it’s going to happen whether you like it or not.“Get on with it. If you don’t like it, lump it type of attitude.”
Holly Evans10 July 2026 10:44
Poll shows 73% of Brits think Nigel Farage is sleazyA new poll by YouGov has found that 73 per cent of Britons think Nigel Farage is sleazy, while 69 per cent say the same of his party.
With answers ranging from very sleazy to not sleazy at all, 56 per cent placed the Reform UK leader in the highest categroy, with an additional 17 per cent finding him ‘fairly sleazy’.
This compares with 36 per cent finding the same of Andy Burnham, and 34 per cent finding Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sleazy.
Holly Evans10 July 2026 10:28
Analysis: Burnham’s ally suggests he will borrow billions for defence – limiting his hand elsewhereAnalysis by Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, a key ally of Burnham, has said the next PM might look at “other options” to fund defence rather than move money from within existing government spending.
That has been widely seen as a hint he could increase borrowing, rather than raise taxes, to pay for it.
On Wednesday an unexpected source, Keir Starmer, appeared to suggest his successor should borrow billions more to cover the hole left for him in the government’s defence investment plan.
The move would solve one headache for the new PM – especially since Labour has already lost one defence secretary in protest at a lack of defence spending.
But it risks leaving him with less ‘headroom’, or room to deal with other problems and potential shocks that arise.
Holly Evans10 July 2026 10:19
Ask John Rentoul anything: What is really going on with Farage’s Clacton by-election?Welcome to an exclusive Ask Me Anything session with me, John Rentoul, chief political commentator at The Independent.
To see the questions and my answers, scroll down. Make sure to press the “load more” button to read the full Q&A at 3pm.
Holly Evans10 July 2026 10:08
Tice: I’ve known the Cottrell family for 50 yearsRichard Tice has said his family have known the Cottrell family for 50 years, as he insists Fiona Cottrell is a permissible donor.
According to the Times, he Metropolitan Police has been investigating £500,000 of donations to Reform UK for more than a year.Fiona Cottrell, the mother of Mr Farage’s longtime supporter George Cottrell, is reportedly at the centre of the investigation, the paper reported.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Mr Tice dismissed the reports as a “politically motivated smear campaign”.
“I’ve known the Cottrell family, my family have known the Cottrell family, and the broader Hesketh family for 50 years, a very successful aristocratic family,” he told Times Radio.
“And, you know, that’s some, as far as I’m concerned, she’s a permissible donor. And that’s the end of it. And this is a politically motivated smear campaign by people who wish us ill.”
Richard Tice has defended the donation from George Cottrell’s mother (AFP/Getty)Athena Stavrou10 July 2026 10:01
Labour party will ‘wear our hearts on our sleeves’ under Burnham, Nandy saysCulture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the party would “wear our hearts on our sleeve” more than under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Mr Burnham requires just one more MP to nominate him to make it mathematically impossible for anyone to stand against him and Home Office minister Mike Tapp said he would back him when the Commons returns on Monday.
When MPs left Westminster on Thursday, Mr Burnham had the backing of 322 of the 403 Labour MPs.
The total means that there are still 81 Labour MPs left who could nominate another contender, the minimum needed to get on to the ballot, but Sir Keir and some other party office holders are unlikely to nominate anyone.
Even before nominations opened, Mr Burnham seemed almost certain to enjoy a coronation as the only declared candidate in the race to succeed Sir Keir, with him likely to take the party leadership at a special conference in a week’s time and then become prime minister on July 20.
Ms Nandy said: “No 10 for the North has attracted a lot of interest, but that really is about shifting the centre of gravity in the country, so that all parts of the country are seen and heard and are able to contribute.
“But the second thing that I think will be different is that I think we will wear our hearts on our sleeve more. I think people will see us taking the fight to any system that stands in the way of them living better lives.”
Holly Evans10 July 2026 09:39
Ann Widdecombe issues Restore Britain warning in one of her final public appearancesAnn Widdecombe warns Rupert Lowe’s party only obstacle to Reform UK in one of her final public appearancesHolly Evans10 July 2026 09:23
Farage claims he is facing ‘the anti-Trump playbook’ amid backlash over financesNigel Farage said he believed he was facing the “anti-Trump playbook” amid scrutiny over his finances.
It was put to the Reform UK leader on TalkTV that the US president had posted about “the sort of anti-Trump playbook playing out on you” after Mr Trump shared a link to an article on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Farage said: “Well, that’s what I believe, and that’s why I thought, let’s put it to the public.”
He said there should be a general election as well as a by-election as Andy Burnham will have “no mandate of any kind at all, and the pubic are pretty sick of this game of musical chairs that goes on in No 10.”
On other parties boycotting the by-election, he said: “No, I didn’t expect them all to act together the way they did, but as I say, they are the uniparty.”
Holly Evans10 July 2026 09:08
