A REFORM UK MP has suspended himself from the party amid a probe into his finances.
James McMurdock has removed the party whip from himself ahead of a story being published by the Sunday Times which alleges he borrowed £70,000 under the UK Government's Bounce Back loans scheme in 2020.
His decision was announced by Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the Sunday Times publishing an investigation into the allegations.
The statement said that McMurdock had "removed the party whip from himself pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that are likely to be published by a national newspaper".
It added that "the allegations relate to business propriety during the pandemic and before he became an MP".
Reform UK Statement. pic.twitter.com/h930qMCtYt
— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) July 5, 2025
Shortly after Anderson's statement was shared on social media, the Sunday Times published its investigation.
It alleges that McMurdock, who is the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, borrowed the money through two companies he owned.
The first company was JAM Financial Limited, which had no employees and negligible assets until the pandemic.
In 2020 it took out a loan of £50k, the maximum sum available under the loans scheme available for medium-sized businesses during the pandemic.
The Sunday Times reports that a firm would have needed to report a turnover of at least £200k in order to be eligible for the loan.
McMurdock transferred his shares in the company to his mother in 2021, resigning as director.
The second company was Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited, which was allegedly dormant until January 31, 2020.
It borrowed £20k, which would have required a turnover of £100k under the Bounce Back scheme.
Neither company filed accounts or annual corporate filings after the loans, the Sunday Times reports, which is a violation of the Companies Act.
Because of this, both companies were set to be struck off the register in February 2023, but this was halted after the company regulator received an objection from a third party, which is understood to be in relation to the loans.
Both companies remain active on Companies House.
The Sunday Times also reported that McMurdock failed to list his directorship of Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited on his register of interests, which appears to breach parliamentary rules.
When approached for comment, McMurdock told the newspaper to "be very, very careful" and said "a technical expert" would be needed to understand the matters. He refused to say why he took out the loans.
And in a statement on Twitter/X later on Saturday afternoon, he said that his "business dealings had always been conducted fully within the law and in compliance with all regulations".
He added that he had asked for the whip to be suspended temporarily "as a precautionary measure".
It is understood that Reform UK will now launch its own inquiry.
McMurdock, 39, was elected in last year's General Election with a majority of 98 votes.
He was previously convicted of assaulting his girlfriend while drunk outside of a nightclub at the age of 18, and was subsequently jailed in a young offenders' institution for 21 days.
McMurdock had not publicly disclosed the information before he was elected as an MP, and previously downplayed the incident as a "teenage indiscretion".
MPs do not have to disclose previous convictions to the public when standing, with a Reform UK spokesperson saying at the time that they were aware of his conviction and jail sentence.
They added that McMurdock "absolutely rejects allegations that he either kicked, stamped or punched the victim, though he accepts that he pushed her, she fell and was injured".
