Police investigate £500,000 Reform UK donations from George Cottrell’s mother

Police are examining two £250,000 donations to Reform UK from Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, after a referral from the Electoral Commission triggered an inquiry in February 2025. The first payment appeared in Reform’s records on 9 May 2024 and the second on 29 May 2024, both made in the run-up to the general election.

The Metropolitan Police said detectives are looking at whether the money involved concealment of the true donor, which could amount to an offence under section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Two people have been interviewed under caution and no arrests have been made.

The investigation has sharpened scrutiny of Reform’s finances and its links to George Cottrell, who has been described as a convicted fraudster and a long-standing ally of Nigel Farage. Labour chair Anna Turley said there were “legitimate questions” for Farage and accused Reform of taking the public “for fools.”

The two donations under investigation are separate from another transfer said to have been made by Fiona Cottrell in June 2024. That payment was about £1 million to Britain Means Business, a fundraising vehicle associated with Reform and run by deputy leader Richard Tice, with part of the money then passed on to the party.

The Cottrell inquiry lands alongside wider pressure on Reform’s funding base, including separate reporting on an alleged £5 million gift linked to businessman Christopher Harborne and on financial support Cottrell is said to have provided for Farage’s staff, security and accommodation. Those claims have added to questions about how large donations are vetted and whether the party’s procedures are strong enough to detect opaque funding routes before money reaches the political system.

Reform has dismissed the scrutiny as establishment “smears,” but the police case now puts the party’s fundraising under formal examination. With detectives weighing whether the donor behind the £500,000 was concealed, the case has become a test of both the party’s internal checks and the wider rules designed to keep political money transparent.