Oh dear. Reform UK has made much of its recent progress. Having lost Rupert Lowe at the beginning of this year, Farage’s forces then gained Sarah Pochin at a stonking set of local elections. But now the parliamentary party is backed down to four MPs again, after James McMurdock chose to resign the whip, amid allegations surrounding his ‘business propriety during the pandemic’.
McMurdock, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, will sit as an independent in the Commons while the claims are investigated. Lee Anderson, Reform’s Chief Whip, said today:
I have today received a call from James McMurdock who has advised me, as chief whip, that he has removed the party whip from himself pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations that are likely to be published by a national newspaper. The allegations relate to business propriety during the pandemic and before he became an MP. At Reform UK we take these matters very seriously and James has agreed to cooperate in full with any investigation. We will not be commenting further at this moment.
The Sunday Times is now reporting that McMurdock borrowed £70,000 under the government’s Bounce Back loans scheme in 2020 through two companies: JAM Financial Limited and Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited. Labour meanwhile has referred McMurdock to the parliamentary commissioner for standards for failing to declare the latter on his register of interests.
How many will be left in Reform by the end of this parliament?
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