NIGEL Farage fears he will face a by-election if he is found to have broken rules over a £5m gift from a crypto-billionaire, he has reportedly told friends.
Farage is being investigated by Parliament’s standards commissioner over the undeclared £5m from Christopher Harborne, who is based in Thailand and is also known by the Thai name Chakrit Sakunkrit.
Labour have also asked the UK financial watchdog to investigate whether Farage’s support for cryptocurrency has benefitted the billionaire donor.
According to the i Paper, Farage has told friends he is worried he will have to face a by-election if the investigation does not go his way.
Sanctions for a breach of the rules range from an apology in the House of Commons to a suspension. If he was banned from the Commons for 10 days or more, he would face a recall petition and if at least 10% of eligible voters sign it, this would trigger a by-election in his Clacton constituency.
Farage won the Clacton seat comfortably in 2024 with an 8405-vote majority.
A source told the paper Farage has been surprised that the row over the £5m gift has cut through with the electorate and fears he will be painted in the same light as Boris Johnson, whose time at Downing Street was mired by the partygate scandal.
A spokesman for Reform UK said: “Mr Farage has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules have been broken.
"We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.”
There are reports Farage is losing the appetite to lead his party into the next election and has been keeping a low-profile in recent weeks.
In 2015, a new rule was introduced requiring newly elected MPs to declare any benefits or financial support connected to their political activities in the year before an election.
Harborne has donated more than £25 million to Reform UK.
The businessman was an early investor in prominent cryptocurrency Bitcoin, and is reported to own a stake in Tether, a company which issues a so-called “stablecoin” with the same name.
Harborne gave Farage the sum just weeks before he decided to stand in the 2024 General Election and take over as Reform leader but it was not declared.
