Police in the UK investigate two Reform UK donations worth £250,000 each, totalling £500,000, made by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and an ally of Nigel Farage. According to reporting across outlets, officers are examining whether the donations may involve possible offences relating to evasion of donation restrictions, including whether the payments were intended to conceal a donation by an impermissible donor. The investigation is linked to the timing of the donations in May 2024.
Reform UK has not been described uniformly across sources as making the same claim, but the coverage notes that the issue has prompted calls for scrutiny and questions from other parties. One outlet reports Labour raising “legitimate questions” about the investigation. Another reports that Reform asks the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate alleged leaks of private financial information, indicating parallel concerns around information handling.
The matter is presented as an ongoing police inquiry into the legality of the donation structure and whether electoral donation rules were properly followed.
