Man of the people Farage spends £55,000 on three plane tickets

He may just have reported additional non-parliamentary earnings of £109,000 in the latest Register of Members’ Financial Interests – more than he gets per year for doing his actual job as a MP – but Nigel Farage is so far being coy about how he managed to spend nearly £55,000 on three plane tickets to the United States last month.

Reform’s odd-jobbing leader, rarely seen by his own constituents in Clacton, was bankrolled for the trip by former Conservative Party donor turned Reform backer Bassim Haidar. It is reported by Farage in the register as “flights for me (£19,072) and two staffers (£35,849), value £54,821” – suggesting the trio flew in luxury both ways.

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In a November 25 update to the register, Farage says he was in America for charity and speaking engagements from November 6-9, but omits to disclose their nature.

The lavish round-trip marks the fifth donation to Reform from telecoms and fintech billionaire Haidar, who was born in Nigeria of Lebanese parents but is an Irish national. The Electoral Commission’s database of donations lists £225,000 given by him to the far right party between January and April this year, putting his donations to Farage and co on course to eclipse the £677,000 he threw away in the Conservatives between April 2023 and June 2024.

Haidar has also been splashing the cash on property. Last week, he snapped up a £42 million flat at London’s home for the super-rich, One Hyde Park.

Farage, who has been approached for comment via his office and Reform UK, also reported £78,633 in pay from GB News, payable to his private firm Thorn in the Side, as well as £31,145 due from Rupert Murdoch’s News PTY for work undertaken between February and November 2025.