Police investigate donations to Reform UK from Richard Tice's company
Police are investigating donations made to Reform UK from a company controlled by deputy leader Richard Tice, raising questions about the source of the funds.
How it was covered
- BBC News carried 57% of the airtime.
- Channel 5, Channel 4, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
- GB News: covered online, not found on air.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating donations made to Reform UK by a company controlled by the party's deputy leader, Richard Tice. The BBC has learned that the scope of the investigation is wider than previously reported.
Earlier this month, The Times reported that two donations made directly to Reform UK in May 2024 by Fiona Cottrell were under police investigation. Cottrell is the mother of a convicted fraudster with close links to Nigel Farage. The investigation is thought to relate to allegations that donations from an impermissible donor might have been received or that the donor was concealed or disguised.
The BBC has now discovered that the same Met Police investigation is also looking into two further donations to Reform UK, each of £250,000, made in June 2024 by Britain Means Business. That company is controlled by Richard Tice, who is now an MP and Reform's deputy leader. Tice has previously said that Fiona Cottrell gave Britain Means Business £1 million and that he then decided the company would donate half of it to Reform UK.
When approached by the BBC, Tice said this was the first he had heard of an investigation into the donations his firm made. He questioned whether the Met Police's leadership was engaged in what he called a politically motivated smear campaign. A Reform UK spokesman said the party took pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always followed the Electoral Commission's guidelines strictly.
The revelations add to mounting questions about Reform UK's funding and the party's leadership.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| A Reform UK spokesman said the party takes pride in its stringent vetting of donations and always follows the Electoral Commission's guidelines strictly. | ||
| Richard Tice said he was unaware of the investigation and accused the Met Police of a politically motivated smear campaign. | ||
| The investigation also covers two donations of £250,000 each made in June 2024 by Britain Means Business, a company controlled by Richard Tice. | ||
| The Metropolitan Police investigation into Reform UK donations includes two £250,000 payments from a company controlled by Richard Tice, who said he learned of the probe from the BBC and accused the force of a politically motivated smear campaign. | ||
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC News coverage presents the story as a major exclusive, highlighting that the BBC has discovered the investigation is wider than previously known. It frames the issue as part of mounting questions facing Reform UK and includes a reference to an upcoming Panorama interview with Andy Burnham, suggesting a broader journalistic context.
- “The BBC has learned that the police are investigating donations made to reform UK by a company controlled by the party's now Deputy Leader, Richard Tice.”
- “What we at the BBC have discovered is that the scope of that investigation is wider than previously reported.”
- “But this is just the latest revelation, isn't it, in what are now mounting questions facing Reform UK and its leadership over the party's funding.”
BBC ONE West reports the same story but with a more regional framing, embedding it between other local news items such as Scottish flooding and an Essex fire. The tone is straightforward and less focused on the exclusive nature of the scoop, instead presenting the facts as part of a broader news bulletin.
- “The BBC has learned that the police are investigating donations made to Reform UK by a company controlled by the party's now deputy leader, Richard Tice.”
- “What we at the BBC have discovered is that the scope of that investigation is wider than previously reported.”
- “But this is just the latest revelation in what are now mounting questions facing Reform UK and its leadership over the party's funding.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.