At PWC, we optimize the systems that put your data to work, so you can scale your AI from proof of concept to competitive edge, and accelerate your tech evolution so you can redefine what's possible. From blueprint to breakthrough, we take you further with tech. So you can "outthink", "outpace" and "outperform". PWC. So you can. PWC refers to the PWC network and all one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. It's early on a summer evening in June this year, and a stone throw from Buckingham Palace, a ranger over with dark tinted windays, is crawling down a quiet back street. It pulls up outside a smart Georgian townhouse, and a bodyguard steps out. A burly former Royal Marines Commando with slick back hair and a beard, who's been seen crisscrossing the country with one Nigel Farage since his return to frontline politics. He walks the back of the car, and opens the door for the VIP waiting inside. But the man who gets out isn't the reform UK leader. It's a smaller, younger figure, in a duck egg blue waistcoat and a pink tie. In his hand, he's balancing a wad of cash. Posh Georg. The convicted quimlal has spent the day at Royal Ascot watching the horses. Arriving back at the property he rents, like other nights this week, Georg takes the keys from the bodyguard and disappears inside, shutters closed. We've been told Georg pays protection staff around £100,000 a year. And for some time before the last election, Posh Georg was paid to provide security to Nigel Farage. Yet such support has never been declared in an apparent breach of parliamentary rules, and we wonder if it's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm Gabriel Pogrand. I run the Insight Investigations team at the Sunday Times. And together with my colleagues Venetia Mingus and Manu Middolo, we've spent the last few months trying to understand just how a convicted fraudster with no official role in reform UK has worked his way into the heart of British politics, standing by the man who could win the next election. But first needs to win his seat back in Clackton. From the times in Sunday Times, this is the final part of Posh Georg, the criminal behind Farage. Episode 5. Daddy. Fiori 2020's were a time of political upheaval. Strike that. Political chaos. Boris Johnson forced from office following a string of scandals. It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and that for a new Prime Minister. Liz Truss, last year into seven weeks as Prime Minister, we've agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week. And the Conservatives, hemorrhaging counsellors at the local elections under their next leader, Rishi Sunak. The South East, the South West, Midlands and North, you're losing everywhere. Prime Minister, why is that? It's always disappointing to me. In February of 2023 Nigel Farage found himself for a crossroads. On one hand, it might have seemed he'd left frontline politics behind. He'd launch his own brand of gin. He was finding his feet as a political commentator and presenter on the upstart GB News. Frankly, I think they deserve pretty much everything that's coming to them. He was clearly enjoying attacking the Tories from the sidelines. On the other hand, Farage was the honorary president of Reform UK, the party he'd set up in 2021, and which he'd structured as a company in which he held a majority of shares. He was facing calls to return full-time to the rough and tumble of political life. As Sunak's party plummeted in the polls, there was clearly an opportunity among right-wing British voters. And, with no obvious date for the next general election, Nigel Farage had time to decide what to do. So, he turned to someone for help, a trusted adviser who'd now been by his side for almost a decade. Posh George. Sources tell me that together the pair agreed that whatever came next, Farage needed to professionalise his operation and bolster his brand. George would pay. We, at Insight, the Sunday Times Investigation's team, can reveal the 32-year-old began to fund Nigel Farage's back office, providing Farage with security, drivers, and hiring and paying a team professionals to support him. One of those who started working for Farage, and who was paid by Posh George, was Tom Duprey, a writer who once, by the time, was sad from his job at Credit Suisse for belonging to the far-right youth organisation, Generation Identity. He created a website for Farage, NigelFarageOffice.com. Another who joined, starting in August 2023, was a young right-wing activist from Liverpool called Jack Anderton. Britain is a shadow of its former self. We are no longer the richest country. In terms of duty, I have to say. The recent graduate was making videos of himself dressed in black, staring down the lens and conveying his views on housing and immigration. The British people deserve more, you deserve more. Posh George started paying Anderton a salary, equivalent to £54,000 a year, to become Farage's social media manager and videographer. The 62-year-old's online presence changed instantly. What had been grainy footage of Farage out and about, recorded by holding a phone at arm's length, "Well, it's finally come home. It's at the women's team to do it." "Yeah, I'm going out of a Cornish harbor. We're after the big tuna. I could be out of range." Suddenly, had backdrops, lighting, captions. There were more videos than ever, with snappy scripts about hot-button issues. "Your generation paid the price for lockdown. School was ended, uni was ended." "We issued last year 1.4 million visas. That number is completely out of control." Farage was positioned as a cultural commentator, discussing everything from migration to education to net zero to workness. "The whole thing is ludicrous. I promise you one thing folks, I would never do this to you." Then, in November, Nigel Farage announced he'd be appearing on the ITV reality show, "I'm a celebrity." Past George had asked one of his exes, former Queen of the Jungle's Georgia Tuffalo for advice. When he helped negotiate an appearance fee worth £1.5 million. As Farage was doused in cockroaches and mealworms, back in London, the staff George was funding were on hand to clip up the highlights. "I'm too sexy for my love. Too sexy for my love. Love's going to leave me." Whether you like me or love me, I want you to vote to keep me in the jungle. Farage would finish third and begin 2024 as one of the most popular politicians in the country. A dominant presence, able to reach audiences most MPs were dream of. A few months later, A rain-soaked Rishi Sunax stood outside Downing Street, surprising everyone with the timing of a snap election. Initially, Nigel Farage told the media he wouldn't stand in the contest. "The bad news Mr. Sunax is, I'll be out around the country fighting campaigning appearing on media." Instead, as reforms honorary president, he travelled around Britain as the party unveiled their candidates, discussing their manifesto, jeering up the party faithful and asking for donations. If you believe in what we stand for, click that to make button and help us. But when it came to his own ambitions, Farage claimed he instead needed to support Donald Trump in the forthcoming US presidential race. Then, he changed his mind. "I can't let down those millions of people. I simply can't do it. It'll be wrong." Standing in front of a huge Union Jack Flag, Nigel Farage announced he would return as reform UK's leader and its candidate for clackton in Essex. A posse George was once again by his side. On the 4th of June, the 1st of June,
Instead of campaigning in Clarke Town, Depear relieving the moon starfish pup, weaving their way through the crowd on the red tiled stairs outside. When a young woman in a grey tracety in converse is stepped forward and throws a milkshake into Farage's face. George ducks through the bodyguards and puts protective hand on Farage's shoulder, clearing the cameras from his path as he ushers the reform UK leader to safety and a nearby coach. (soft music) But posh George did more than merely council and comfort. When someone runs for Parliament, there are clear rules governing the funding they can receive, how much, where it's come from, all has to be carefully recorded. And George Kotl did change how he supported Nigel Farage during this time. Invoices submitted to the Electoral Commission show Jack Anderton, the social media manager posh George had been funding, who was moved on to the reform UK payroll. But direct support didn't stop entirely. George rented a George and townhouse place to Buckingham Palace. A short walk from reforms temporary London headquarters, it served as a base for Farage when he couldn't return to his homes in Kent and Essex. Labour won the election. And Labour landslide and then some. But reform UK won the third largest vote share. And the news of Nigel Farage ridding a seat in the House of Commons on the eighth time of trying was everywhere. He finally becomes a member of Parliament and this matters because. From this point, the clock starts ticking. Because Parliamentary rules state that new MPs have a month to report any benefit worth over £300 that in any way relates to their political activity in the year prior to the election. There is an exception for purely personal gifts, such as the rules state, partners or family members. So if your husband gets your box of chocolates or your mum buys you a ticket to see your favourite band player Christmas, that's fine. But the rules are clear. If you're in any doubt, you should declare it. And almost none of Post George's support for Nigel Farage was. Reform UK say this is because prior to the 3rd of June 2024 when he said he were running cloutin, Nigel Farage was purely a media personality and personal brand, wholly unconnected to politics. Although in a video as Jack Banditon produced, while he was still being paid by Post George, Farage not only discussed political issues, we're a weak in and despite every attempt to crash the Reform UK vote, it's not having. We're holding this. Several also directly champion reform, reporting from the party's conference, "My efforts and my work will be solidly behind "richen ties and reform UK." Encouraging voters to back their candidates at by-elections, or advertising party events with their logo. "I'm headed to Dover. "10 o'clock tomorrow morning, I'll be doing a press conference. "I predicted four years ago "there'd be an invasion across the English channel." And during this time, Farage seemed to be quite actively flirting with running for office. When Farage was asked during the campaign about the reform candidate for cloutin who he replaced at the last minute, when he decided to run, Farage suggested they wouldn't be surprised. Um, he knew six months ago that it was a possibility. All right, he knew it was a possibility. For a reform argue that before the 3rd of June 2024, Farage was simply a media personality, what about George Kottrill? For years, whenever I asked reform UK about post George, why he was then next to Farage events or out and about campaigning in cloutin, their response was the same. He had no official role in the party. But in July last year, the spectator, her weekly political magazine, hosted a glittery swaray in London. Journalists, TV hosts and politicians were mingling in the garden, enjoying drinks under the sunshades and fairy lights. In the midst of the crowd was posh George. As he met people, he handed out business cards. He gave it to one person who took a picture and sent it to me. It featured his name, the turquoise party logo of reform UK, and the email address of Nigel Farage. Sauses tell us post George is one of two people with permanent access to Farage as emails, the other being his secretary. George also has his own desk next to Farage's office at Reform HQ. Asked about this, a Reform UK spokesman told me, "It was none of your business." And even at this time, after Farage was elected, we believe George was continuing to provide reform with undeclared support. At PWC, we optimize the systems that put your data to work so you can scale your AI from proof of concept to competitive edge and accelerate your tech evolution so you can redefine what's possible. So you can outthink, outpace, and outperform. PWC. So you can. (wind blowing) So I'm just driving down a country lane in, well, countryside and western share on my way to the cottage that the Honourable Mrs. Fiona Cottrell post George's mum calls home. I mean, it is an absolutely stunning day and stunning scenery. There's thatched roofs, an old stone, fences and avenues of trees. Swallows flit across the road as we drive. I'm here because last June, the Electoral Commission revealed that George's mother, Fiona Cottrell, had donated £750,000 to reform UK over the previous year, which instantly made her one of the party's biggest donors. Fiona Cottrell's the aristocrat who posed nude for Penthouse magazine and dated Prince Charles. But a contribution of £750,000 seems to contrast with legal documents we've seen, which give us a very different portrayal of her finances. The papers from 2023 describe Fiona Cottrell as a retired stylist. And they show that when her husband George's father Mark died that year, his entire estate, administered by Mrs. Cottrell, was valued at around £1.5 million. That means Fiona, who has no prior history in politics, donated 50% of the value of her husband's entire estate from cash to assets shortly after his death. The Electoral Commission has repeatedly refused to disclose any records about the payment. This is what I'm hoping to ask her about. Hello. Is that Mrs. Cottrell? Yes. Mrs. Cottrell, hi. And I hope you'd hope by me ring out the bleed. My name's Gabriel, I'm a journalist for Sunday's party. I might be able to borrow a few minutes of your time. I'm just explaining who I am through the video doorbell when Mrs. Cottrell almost interrupts me to say. I'm very sorry. I've got very comments made on anything, thank you. All right. Thanks. I was struck that she didn't ask any questions about what I was hoping to discuss. I do want to respect that. And I think that in those moments it's not my style to try and push anybody further than they've said there. Wish to go. Somebody has learned who and what you are. And the position is I don't want to say anything. There's no conversation about a conversation. This is over. I didn't even get to ask about the £750 pound donation. We at the Insight team can now reveal that the Metropolitan Police is conducting a criminal investigation into at least half the million pounds of Theonocultural's donations. Two people have been interviewed under caution in connection with a potential offense of disguising the source of funds or making false statements. Those are reportedly George and his mother Theonocultural. After we approach Theonocultural, the Guardian newspaper also revealed that she'd paid the deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tyre.
a £1 million sum deposited in his think tank, Britain means business in June 2024. Half of that was immediately donated to Reform UK, meaning her name didn't appear on the party's public declarations to the Electoral Commission. The Guardian revealed the transaction was flagged to the National Crime Agency under the Suspicious Activity Program, which alerts law enforcement to potential instances of money laundering. These alerts aren't evidence any crime is committed, but there's something banks are required to do, but it cannot account for the source of large deposits. We've also approached Fiona Kotchlin-Ryton. She's never responded. It's September 2024, a Nigel Farage, the new MP for Clackton, is walking on stage at the NEC Birmingham to pyre techniques, singing along to Eminem. He's giving a speech at the Reform UK conference, and he starts with a joke, taking out his glasses often tasteously. Do you like him? Very expensive. But guess what? I bought them myself. How about that? It's a reference to a story about Keir Starmer. One of my stories is that it happens, which revealed the Prime Minister accepted donations to pay for seats and I wear. But while Farage is reveling in the controversy surrounding the Labour leader, the discussion about whether gifts had been properly declared, Farage himself had failed to disclose the full support that POS George was still providing. I said before that two contributions from George were formally declared. The first, almost £10,000 to a tender, right-wing conference in Belgium before the election. The second, a £15,000 flight to me yield on Musk at Mar-a-Lago after the election. Farage initially failed to declare this one, but did so once I approached his team and asked who paid for it. But we can report there were more still. Sorry to bother you. My name is Emmanuel, this is my colleague Gabriel, the journalist from your time is your paper. I'm back in London with my Sunday Times Insight colleague Manu Midello. We're out near Buckingham Palace, trying to speak to those who live close to the central London townhouse that POS George has been renting, the one where we began this episode. Neighbors, we understand, have seen Farage here. Sources tell us Farage is socialised and stayed here repeatedly, and the neighbours we meet also say they've seen him. Reform acknowledged that Nigel Farage had stayed at the property. George Cottrell's lawyer said that Farage stayed and stayed there as a personal friend. Farage insists his visits were not frequent, and that benefits of this kind from a friend did not need to be declared. All MPs must declare any benefit which someone else might reasonably consider to influence what they say or do. POS George's assistance before and after the election was never divulged. We can also reveal that after the 2024 election, and as recently as last year, George Cottrell used his own money to cover thousands of pounds worth of office costs for reform UK, using his personal bank card to buy computer tools and software. These donations were not declared to the Electoral Commission in an apparent breach of the rules. It's unclear whether POS George is what the Electoral Commission deems a permissible donor allowed to give to political parties at this point. He was and remains a tax resident in Montenegro. And only appeared on the list of overseas voters, those lawfully able to cast votes and donate while in foreign countries in December last year. And while Nigel Farage has been receiving support from his long-standing friend, George has also continued to prosper. So, one to the left, isn't he? My colleague, Manu Midello, is in Chelsea. Not far from Batis of Bridge and the Thames. The sun is shining, it's a glorious day. The smell of Jasmine is filling the air. The birds are chirping, but also you can hear workers refurbishing a three-story house. I've actually been to this house. In a previous life as a property reporter, my job was to go to some of the most expensive houses in the city. Manu's dug out the brochure from 2023 when his four bedroom Chelsea townhouse was up for sale. There's a dining room with an open space kitchen. There is a study, a library that opens onto a terrace. Master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom on the first floor. It's a pretty big house. It's over 200 square meter or 2,000 square foot. Flipping through it, you can see crystal chandeliers and marble on sweets. And what it describes as a classic contemporary style, ideal for family living. At the time, they were accepting offers for over £8.5 million. But it didn't sell. A year later, its owner, the billionaire developer Nick Candy, was made on a retresurer of Reform UK. I've mentioned this morning I will donate a seven figure sum to Reform. So over £1 million? Over £1 million. And I will also raise reform more money than it's ever been raised for a political party in this country. And a year after that, according to legal documents, we obtained this house was transferred to Posh George. The price paid zero. Which begs the question, why? Why is Nick Candy gifted this £1 million house to George Cottrell? And what's Posh George going to do with it? Nick Candy told us the house was not a gift. Instead, he said, "George purchased shares in the properties parent company and settled alone that the company itself owed to the candy group." We repeatedly asked how much George paid for these shares. Neither Candy nor George would say. In any case, this account does contrast with the documents we've seen. Because they state clearly that the parent company is no longer the owner of this four bedroom townhouse in Chelsea. Is just Posh George. Sunday Times has a decades-long record of investigating powerful people. In that tradition, this weekend, the papers Insight Editor Gabriel Pogrand reported how Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK received help from a convicted fraudster. We made this podcast series at the same time as publishing our journalism in the newspaper. It's fair to say that when we press go on both, we weren't quite expecting this reaction. Did Nigel Farage stay in that townhouse that's being rented by George Cottrell? I believe Nigel has said that he stayed a couple of times there very infrequently as you're allowed to. Sunday Times alleged some gifts, like paying for a social media team, predated Nigel Farage's return to Parliament. A Lib Dem MP says it should all be added to the Parliamentary Standards Commission as investigation, already underway. Nigel Farage has been referred to the Parliamentary Standards Committee, which he says is investigating and overhotrol, as well as the Electoral Commission. Adding to the inquiries already taken place into the £5 million he received from the British Thai Crypto Billionaire Christopher Harbourn. I thought about it hard, and I've decided today, today I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clackton on C, thereby forcing a by-election. And then Nigel Farage resigned, so he could once again run to become the MP for Clackton. I've decided that the people of Clackton should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment. The Parliamentary Standards Commission has enquiry into whether Farage has reached the MP's code of conduct has been suspended. But it will be restarted if he wins the by-election. Within hours, Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and Restore Britain, said they won't be standing in the by-election, dismissing it as a circus, a fake by-election, and a vanity project. Is this a genius masterstroke by a brilliant tactician or a desperate stunt by an angry man that could backfire? For now, it's left Farage in a most peculiar position, out campaigning against none of the other major parties. His closest challenger, the satirical candidate, Count Binface. What is your appeal going to be to the people of Clackton? I'm not Nigel Farage.
(laughing) (soft music) - Manu yours. - I've a cat on toast actually, that's a very gently kind of breakfast. - Nicotine and coffee. - European breakfast. - And a cheese twist from M&S. - Ooh. - Yeah. - I don't even know why podcast producers love checking their kit by asking what you had for breakfast. But I'm sitting in the inside office with my colleagues, Venetian, Mingus and Manu Midole, reflecting on this investigation. - It's been a crazy few weeks. And I don't think we really had any idea of where it could go. - It's definitely been dominating the headlines for over a week now. - I mean, obviously it resigned. - The fact that you didn't name post-sortages, sort of connects with so much that we've been thinking about this idea that he's there but not there. - To me and his resignation speech. - Yeah, like it's so obvious they're so close, they're there together all the time at events, bi-elections, party HQ, but that's the one thing that innocent fraud wouldn't name. I guess what I didn't, I wondered like why it went bang in the way that it did as a story. I think part of it is just, it's a human story. I did some broadcasting bits and bobs as we all did afterwards. And I've got asked whether it was true that he has called for our daddy. And I people well outside the world of politics or Fleet Street contacted me after that saying that's insane, can't believe that was an insight story. And for our, obviously the Scrab, George has like a son to me. - I mean, the question is, I guess, is it an unbreakable bond? - In so many ways, this is a different story to Westminster funding tales where politicians come to know donors and rely on them and they've met them at receptions and they may even have them over to Downing Street, but they don't actually know them that well. Whereas that actually is what is, this is, it is the essential relationship in George's life and notwithstanding for our today romantic partner who, cultural is the through line throughout his own story over the last 10 years. - I guess the interesting thing is that he didn't ditch him even after he went to jail. So why should he do it now? - Yeah. - What have our sources been saying about that bond? - Yeah, I guess one source says something which start with me, which was that it is not just a political alliance and if we do purely examine it through the prison of Westminster and Brexit, you just will fall so short of what it is about as well, which is something deeper that Farage actually relies upon. This person said it's existential for Farage, he's not been able to do without him for a decade and some people use phrases like "survile" that it's a master servant relationship but it's also Sunday, it's quite practical relationship, he's a staffer, a consignary, a side man. He's just, it's so many things in one. I honestly suspect you would need to ask George and or Nigel Farage to truly understand why it has ended up receiving so much significance to the reform UK leader. - We've had a huge reaction to this story and the leads are still coming in. - We can't say much more at the moment but just before we recorded this, I was on the phone with a potential source and we'll continue to investigate and don't do any updates. And if you'd like to get in touch with some information, you can email us at
[email protected]. - Or you can send us a message directly. We're gonna put our number and all the details into the description of this episode. - As journalists, we're not here to judge whether rules have been broken or not. We're here to ask questions. I said at the start of this series, this story is about so much more than rules and regulations anyway. It's about friendship, the loneliness of leadership. It's about Farage's path to power and his judgement. Recently, George Kochles created a new political consultancy, purporting to offer campaign advice, polling and strategy. The motto on the website of Farage is right-hand man. Reputation is billed, brick by brick. While making this podcast series, we approached both George Kochles and Nigel Farage. George Kochles says his support of Mr Farage is the result of friendship and shared political ideology, not any hope or expectation of receiving anything in return. Nigel Farage described Mr Kochles as a long-standing friend, both deny any wrongdoing. You've been listening to posse George, the criminal behind Farage, with me, Gabriel Pogrand, along with Venetia Mingus and Manumidhoto. A special thanks to George Greenwood, investigations report at the Times, for his work on the series and the wider investigation. The series is produced and exact by Will Rowan Kate Landball, the assistant producer is Collette Fountain, sound designed by Tiffany Dinnank, theme title and original music by Adam Foreign. Thanks to Michaela Arnison for additional production support on the series. The production manager was Oliver Adamson. The series artwork was by Ellie Littlermore and marketing and press were done by Chelsea Hardwin, Gina Liggins and Emily James. Partnerships by Anna Kovell and the head of podcasts at the Times is Dan Box. At PWC, we optimize the systems that put your data to work, so you can scale your AI from proof of concept to competitive edge and accelerate your tech evolution so you can redefine what's possible. So you can outthink, outpace and outperform. PWC, so you can. PWC refers to the PWC network and all one or more of its members, each of which is a separate legal entity.
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