Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version of this article.
On 23 April, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made a surprising announcement during an interview with GB News: he is “heavily invested” in fishing, as the owner of a commercial fishing vessel:
“I’m the only member of Parliament that has a financial stake in the commercial fishing industry […] I own a commercial fishing boat […] I have a skipper who runs that boat”
Farage to Christopher Hope, GB News, 23 April 2025
The news appeared to come as a surprise to his interviewer, GB News colleague Christopher Hope, who duly included Farage’s purchase of a boat in his Telegraph diary column a couple of weeks later – though with no additional information on when the purchase had occurred.
But it also came as a surprise to anyone who has read Farage’s entries in the Parliamentary Register of Interests, in which not a single reference to boats or fish can be found amongst his many other side-jobs and foreign jollies.
The rules regarding what must be registered are extremely broad: MPs are required to register “any financial interest or other material benefit which a Member receives which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament”.
This would certainly include a commercial fishing vessel even if, as he later claimed, he “doesn’t make any money on it”. The suggested categories for registering interests includes Miscellaneous, in which MPs are required to record any “non-financial or unremunerated interests when these meet the purpose of the Register.”
MPs are required to register their financial interests on an ongoing basis, providing a full disclosure at the start of their term and updating the register within 28 days of any material change to their investments throughout their term.
I See No Ships!
So why is the boat not mentioned on the register of interests published on June 2nd, a full 56 days since he revealed his investment to GB News viewers? How long has Farage been sailing the high seas? Did he buy the boat himself or was it a gift? And why has he chosen not to record this memorable maritime investment in the register of interests?
We’re lifting the lid on the people and money behind Reform UK, and this is just the start. Reform Watch is a new newsletter from HOPE not hate, sent straight to supporters who want to know the truth about the party. Sign up now to get the next edition.
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
