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Rachel Rees

@rachel-rees.bsky.social
2.7K followers 185 following 140 posts

Journalist at the Financial Times, ex London Centric. Not the former chancellor. Email me on rachel.rees@ft.com

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Reposted by Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 22/09/2026
London’s most expensive house, the Reform UK Treasurer, Holly Valance, one of Labour’s biggest donors, a £265m sale, and a curious loophole we’ve uncovered that could slash the taxes earned from elite London properties. London Centric x Dan Neidle collab. www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-mo...
londoncentric.media
London’s most expensive house, Reform UK’s treasurer, and a massively reduced tax bill
A £265m mansion in the heart of the Chelsea • Sold by billionaire Nick Candy and his ex-wife Holly Valance • Bought by a Labour-donating hedge fund boss • Why was the tax bill so small?
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Reform donor Bassim Haidar tells Tel he's leaving UK bc of taxes -- as he also said in 2024 Luckily for his finances, leaving the UK will also limit his donations to Reform, per the incoming £100k cap on overseas donors Good place to advertise your luxury flat tho!
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Nothing says "playful centrist dad" like an accidental tone-deaf archery / bereavement combo scoopy nugget from my piece for the FT today about Ed Davey's stunts (now dialled back, along with the wetsuit) and how the strategy went awry Read the full story here: as.ft.com/r/33123f1c-9...
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John Reed @johnreedwrites.ft.com · 15/09/2026
Yikes... killer graphic in this story about crypto-billionaire Ben Delo, the source of one of Reform UK's twin mega-donations as.ft.com/r/e6b89b0a-5... @nikasgari.bsky.social
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
seems like Zack Polanski’s profile will win over some Holborn and St Pancras voters, but his personal unpopularity will equally be one of the Greens’ big barriers He’s taken Starmer’s old spot as least popular major party leader. Can he take his old seat too?
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Matthias Eberl @eberlmat.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Never a good look when a party has almost as many scandals as it has MPs.
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
As scrutiny mounts over Reform's financial dealings, here's a list of the donation scandals the party's top figures are currently facing, from the latest C4 revelations to Harborne's £5mn, "Posh George", and police probes involving Robert Jenrick and Richard Tice w @oilsheppard.bsky.social
as.ft.com
The five financing scandals facing Reform
Nigel Farage and his party are facing growing scrutiny over transparency and the source of donations
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Reposted by Rachel Rees
Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
already been accused of anti-Chelsea propaganda for this one... latest for the FT, with @leeharris.ft.com
as.ft.com
Company linked to Chelsea FC co-owner Todd Boehly donated to Reform UK
Nigel Farage’s party received total donations of more than £5mn in second quarter according to Electoral Commission figures
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
As honoured as I am to see that The Times has picked up my Chagos article practically *word for word*, including my hard-gotten quotes, I’d prefer some credit — or for everyone to read my original FT piece! free link to read the evidently enviable article below (cheaper than a Times sub!) 🌴
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Kate Allen @kateallen.ft.com · 30/08/2026
Reform goes Robinson Crusoe: Chagos islanders who were helped by key party figures to land on the archipelago six months ago are struggling with limited food, rats, threadbare tents and a small boat. The U.K. government has sent three months’ supplies. (Free to read) as.ft.com/r/ce8396be-5...
as.ft.com
Brexiters’ effort to resettle Chagos Islands hit by lack of proper boat
Nigel Farage-backed expedition is part of attempts to block UK’s contentious deal giving sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Belatedly sharing this nugget from my FT scoop last week, on Toby Young's Free Speech Union urging JD Vance to lobby the UK gov to pause Online Safety Act and defund its anti-disinformation unit, in order to secure concessions from the UK in bilat talks Full article here: as.ft.com/r/af752e4b-1...
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 20/08/2026
Tory peer’s free speech group urged Vance to lobby UK government ft.trib.al/h1snFjD
ft.trib.al
Tory peer’s free speech group urged Vance to lobby UK government
Free Speech Union called on vice-president to focus on censorship at time of Starmer visit to US last year
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Scoop(ish*): Tory peer Toby Young's Free Speech Union urged JD Vance to lobby the UK gov on censorship to secure concessions in bilat talks, adding to questions over its links to the Maga movement FSU asked Vance to push UK gov to pause Online Safety Act & stop funding gov anti-disinformation unit
as.ft.com
Tory peer’s free speech group urged Vance to lobby UK government
Free Speech Union called on vice-president to focus on censorship at time of Starmer visit to US last year
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Lord Toby Young's free speech campaign group says it is non-partisan. But my reporting muddies that claim, showing apparent ties to Maga and Reform — from Young's meeting with a Trump nominee, to the group's campaigns officer accompanying Jenrick to meet JD Vance Scoop for @financialtimes.com:
as.ft.com
British free speech group hit by unease over Maga links
Former employees say Toby Young’s non-profit FSU has aligned with Trump administration despite claims to be non-partisan
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Oddly enough, that's the 3rd successive Jenrick press conference in recent months where the FT hasn't been given a question and almost everyone else has... As a reminder, here's my latest scoop on the allegedly illegal donations to his Tory leadership campaign in 2024
as.ft.com
Robert Jenrick’s wife knew in 2024 about foreign payments to his top donor, lawyer claimed
Police are investigating the legality of donations to the politician during his Conservative Party leadership bid
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Reposted by Rachel Rees
Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 15/08/2026
Being able to write this is one of the coolest things I’ve got to do in a long time! There may even be some free clicks left on this link - indulge your inner dodgy shop owner.
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 23/07/2026
Betting account in Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources ft.trib.al/8PXAsSa
ft.trib.al
Betting account in Cottrell’s name received $9mn in crypto from unidentified sources
Deposits in Polymarket wallet came as convicted fraudster was providing gifts to Farage
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
there goes my top small talk
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Reposted by Rachel Rees
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Scoop by @rachel-rees.bsky.social leaves another senior Reform figure facing questions about their finances:
as.ft.com
Robert Jenrick’s wife knew in 2024 about foreign payments to his top donor, lawyer claimed
Police are investigating the legality of donations to the politician during his Conservative Party leadership bid
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Scoop for @financialtimes.com: Robert Jenrick’s wife knew in late 2024 that her husband’s top donor received payments from a US company now at the centre of a police investigation into potentially illegal foreign donations, according to a claim by a US lawyer. as.ft.com/r/24c5822f-0...
as.ft.com
Robert Jenrick’s wife knew in 2024 about foreign payments to his top donor, lawyer claimed
Police are investigating the legality of donations to the politician during his Conservative Party leadership bid
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Great painstaking work from @annasophiegross.bsky.social and @rachel-rees.bsky.social
ft.com
A timeline of Nigel Farage’s £5mn gift and his return to politics
In the first half of 2024, the politician made some choice interventions in support of cryptocurrencies
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Police have launched a probe into donations to Robert Jenrick's 2024 Tory leadership campaign, amid concerns that £37,500 wrongly came from an overseas donor (who later pleaded guilty to wire fraud) No suggestion of wrongdoing by Jenrick, who says he has had "no contact with the Met" on the matter
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
On a balmy summer afternoon in Clacton-on-Sea, Nigel Farage’s latest act has prompted something rare in politics: a near consensus. Read my dispatch from journos’ new favourite place here: as.ft.com/r/4334da0b-5...
as.ft.com
‘Nigel can fix it’ — what Clacton voters think of Farage’s gambit
Many people in the seaside town, whether supporters of the rightwing populist or not, are pleased with move by Reform UK leader
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Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The prospect of Nigel Farage fighting a people vs the establishment by-election in which the only other candidate is Count Binface - is too hilarious for words.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"In one chapter [of Cottrell's book] entitled 'The Art of the Bribe', [he] sets out how politicians can be bought....'Long-term relationships keep the bought person in hand while you're making money'". Subtle. www.ft.com/content/7a0f...
ft.com
Nigel Farage under scrutiny over aide who wrote book on money-laundering
Reform UK says gifts from convicted fraudster George Cottrell were personal despite him having party business card
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Important - but also funny - scoop by @rachel-rees.bsky.social and @annasophiegross.bsky.social:
ft.com
Nigel Farage under scrutiny over aide who wrote book on money-laundering
Reform UK says gifts from convicted fraudster George Cottrell were personal despite him having party business card
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
In his book 'How to Launder Money', Posh George, the Farage aide at the heart of Reform's latest controversy, has a chapter on 'The Art of the Bribe' He and his co-author recommend small gifts (explainable as “a mistake of overexuberance in friendship”) and "Paying some of the target’s expenses”
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 05/07/2026
Parliament watchdog urged to investigate Nigel Farage over benefits from fraudster ft.trib.al/ZhqHsdR
ft.trib.al
Parliament watchdog urged to investigate Nigel Farage over benefits from fraudster
Call for new inquiry into ‘in-kind’ benefits from aide before Reform leader’s election as MP in July 2024
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I love the FT picture editor for deciding this was a move that warranted the sunglasses pic
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Reform's Nigel Farage has declared his biggest single payment as an MP: £270,000 for 12 hours of work as a brand ambassador for gold dealer Direct Bullion, paid in May (also happening now: gold's worst quarter in more than a decade) scoop w Elizabeth Bratton for @financialtimes.com
as.ft.com
Nigel Farage’s pay from gold dealer doubles to £22,500 an hour
Reform UK leader’s financial declaration comes amid continuing questions about £5mn gift
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Reposted by Rachel Rees
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 30/06/2026
FT exclusive: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has declared his biggest single payment as an MP, receiving £270,000 from a bullion dealer, doubling his fee from 2025 ft.trib.al/8shwe6I
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 29/06/2026
Sometimes I wonder if Kemi Badenoch has even visited Nigeria. thecritic.co.uk/a-sl...
With his plans still opaque, it was tricky for Badenoch to attack them, so she was vague. We learned that she’s a devolution sceptic, but it’s hardly a surprise that she doesn’t trust distant mayors to run things: she pretty clearly thinks that everyone who isn’t her is an idiot.

Someone asked about her comparison of Bridget Phillipson to a member of the Gestapo. “She’s putting ideology above the welfare of children,” Badenoch explained. “That’s what that reference was about.” It’s not that this is incorrect in its description of what the Gestapo did, but it’s somewhat… incomplete. We were left wondering whether, somehow, Britain hasn’t discussed the Second World War enough. 

But this was a mere amuse-bouche to the comparison that was to come. Why had she compared Ed Miliband to the Nigerian dictatorship? “My childhood was spent in Nigeria. Nigeria is an oil -producing country that never had any electricity,” Badenoch explained. “Why? Because it had bad policies from military dictato
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Great to see Jenny’s pics here getting so much love! She managed to make sewage gruesomely photogenic last year when I wrote for London Centric about the capital’s other sewage scandal, tracing sewage from a wealthy Crouch End street to the Thames www.londoncentric.media/p/misconnect...
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Nigel Farage has shielded himself from public scrutiny in recent weeks, in the wake of revelations about his undeclared £5mn gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024 Farage held 20 press conferences from Jan to April — but just 1 last month w @annasophiegross.bsky.social
as.ft.com
Nigel Farage scales back press events amid scrutiny over £5mn gift from crypto investor
Senior figures suggest Reform leader has been working behind the scenes on party strategy
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
FT scoop: A US fraudster accused of illicitly funding Robert Jenrick’s Conservative leadership campaign met one of Jenrick’s current aides as part of a group to discuss the future of the Tory party, months before the alleged donations (not convicted at time) Free: as.ft.com/r/462555d8-2...
as.ft.com
Robert Jenrick aide met US businessman accused of illicit donation
Emails raise further questions over Tory-turned-Reform UK politician’s knowledge of 2024 campaign contribution
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 12/06/2026
Interesting development on that strange Robert Jenrick donation by @rachel-rees.bsky.social that I expect will get picked up other places soon. www.ft.com/content/5eb7...
ft.com
Robert Jenrick aide met US businessman accused of illicit donation
Emails raise further questions over Tory-turned-Reform UK politician’s knowledge of 2024 campaign contribution
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Joel Suss @joelsuss.ft.com · 11/06/2026
Right-wing UK MPs are posting far more on X/twitter since Musk's takeover, while the left retreats (but has not fully abandoned the site) One notable exception is the very online @zackpolanski.bsky.social My article w @pickardje.bsky.social & @rachel-rees.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/295c9f7e-c...
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
In the wake of our @financialtimes.com article, the PM today made his strongest criticism of Musk to date Starmer accused the billionaire of “trying to whip up division” and “interfering in our politics” Updated story here - as.ft.com/r/eafa2b54-9...
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
You might think the world's richest man has a $1.8tn IPO to distract him, but no… In the words of @eddavey.libdems.org.uk, Musk "seems hell-bent on injecting poison" into UK politics
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Amy Borrett @amyborrett.ft.com · 03/06/2026
🚀 Elon Musk has shifted focus from SpaceX to UK politics, amplifying far-right voices to his 240mn followers. We found a third of Musk's recent posts focused on the UK, a 10-year high, raising concern about his political influence ahead of a critical by-election. as.ft.com/r/b1cb096a-e...
Column chart of cumulative posts,retweets and replies showing Musk has focused more on the UK than SpaceX in recent daysArea chart of share of posts referring to UK politics showing the UK has dominated Elon Musk's X feed over the past week
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Helen Warrell @helenwarrell.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
If you read one thing today, make it @stephenkb.bsky.social's admirably clear and rational analysis of the police's actions following Henry Nowak's murder, from the @financialtimes.com Inside Politics newsletter www.ft.com/content/aa94...
ft.com
What Henry Nowak’s murder does — and does not — tell us about policing
Kemi Badenoch says his killing needs to be seen as a ‘Stephen Lawrence moment’ but the failures in both cases differ
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Read @amyborrett.ft.com and I's Restore "hit piece" — on how world's richest man Elon Musk is amplifying Rupert Lowe, the far-right nativist party's founder — for free here: as.ft.com/r/3ee6cd78-b...
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
eight key FT takeaways from today’s Mandelson files www.ft.com/content/da9f...
ft.com
Eight things we learnt from the latest Mandelson files
Documents contain nuggets about the peer’s appointment as US envoy and the workings of Sir Keir Starmer’s government
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
A fun Sunday read on Zack Polanski today, incl: - the “massive strop” around his departure from the LDs - another CV fib - a senior Green fig saying his social media use is the party’s “biggest liability” w @annasophiegross.bsky.social, for @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/2c3a...
ft.com
Zack Polanski’s journey from Liberal Democrat convert to Green leader
Leftwing politician faces allegations that he misled the public on issues such as his career
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Lucy Fisher @lucyfisher.ft.com · 29/05/2026
EXCL: A maker of electronic parts used in UK and other European biometric passports is owned by an investor group led by two Chinese companies that are on a US export restrictions list w/ @rachel-rees.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/d4b9...
ft.com
UK and European passports linked to restricted Chinese investors
Critics raise concerns around critical national infrastructure and potential counterfeiting
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Ben Goldsborough MP @bengoldsborough.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Tech billionaires should not be able to tilt British democracy from Silicon Valley boardrooms. Here’s how we could legislate to stop social media platforms amplifying the Far Right for profit or political influence. 🧵
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Amy Borrett @amyborrett.ft.com · 29/05/2026
🚨Elon Musk has boosted the public profile of Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe on X, pulling Britain’s political discourse towards extreme content and amplifying his influence ahead of a knife-edge election in Makerfield More @FT: as.ft.com/r/80f4639f-0...
Dot plot of X posts with at least 2mn views since Restore Britain launched showing Rupert Lowe has far more viral posts than Farage despite having a third of the followersLine chart of cumulative earnings from X showing Rupert Lowe has earned more than £72,000 from his X posts
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Restore founder Rupert Lowe has insane reach on X — a sign of how Elon Musk’s support for the far-right nativist party translates into political and financial capital Lowe has had 10 posts w 10mn+ views since launching Restore in Feb. Farage, with 3x followers, has had 0 For @financialtimes.com
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Rachel Rees @rachel-rees.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Scoop for @financialtimes.com The UK epassport part maker linked to two Chinese cos on the US’s export-restricted “entity list” With @lucyfisher.ft.com as.ft.com/r/9ac0286c-e...
as.ft.com
UK and European passports linked to restricted Chinese investors
Critics raise concerns around critical national infrastructure and potential counterfeiting
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