Britain’s parliamentary standards watchdog is investigating Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, over a possible failure to declare an interest, the commissioner said on its website on Monday.
The watchdog did not provide details of the allegation under investigation, aside from saying it was opened on 28 July and will be conducted by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg.
An inquiry does not mean that rules have definitely been broken. Reform did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Telegraph newspaper said the investigation was focused on an alleged failure to declare an interest in Israel when speaking in a Westminster Hall debate.
The watchdog had previously been investigating the populist party’s leader, Nigel Farage, over a £5m donation he received from a cryptocurrency billionaire, but that inquiry was paused after Farage resigned his parliamentary seat in July.
British police are investigating at least £500,000 in donations to Reform, which Tice has said is part of a “politically motivated smear campaign”.
When he quit in July, Farage said the establishment was bent on discrediting him over accusations about his finances.
Reform had been leading in the polls for over a year until last week, when the governing Labour party caught up with it and in some cases overtook it, according to different surveys, reflecting a bounce for the new prime minister, Andy Burnham.
