Reform UK MP James McMurdock surrenders party whip pending investigation

He borrowed £70,000 under the government Bounce Back loans scheme in 2020 through two companies he owned, a Times investigation claims.

Reform UK has not released a further comment.

The Reform UK MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock has been an MP since July 4, 2024.

McMurdock, who previously worked in the banking sector, narrowly won his seat with just over 30 per cent of the total vote last year.

He accumulated 12,178 votes, less than 100 more than the Labour candidate standing in the same seat.

Reform MP currently has five MPs, including McMurdock.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Donald Trump used antisemitic term but claims he didn't know: 'Never heard it that way!'
• Labour and Keir Starmer blamed for rise of 'racist clown' Nigel Farage by Steve Coogan
• 'Don't talk about him!' Boris Johnson tells Tories to ignore Reform as ex-PM defends migrant record

In 2020, JAM Financial Limited, a company owned by McMurdock, allegedly took out a loan of £50,000, the maximum sum available under the loans scheme available for medium-sized businesses, despite having no employees and negligible assets until the pandemic.

The requirements for a loan of that size would require the company to register a turnover of at least £200,000.

A year later, McMurdock transferred his shares in the company to his mother and resigned as director, according to the Times.

The second company, Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited, allegedly borrowed £20,000, which would have required a turnover of £100,000 under the Bounce Back scheme.

The investigation claims that the now MP violated the Companies Act, as neither company filed accounts or annual corporate filings after the loans were made.

Separately, Murdock appears to have breached parliamentary rules by failing to list his directorship of Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited on his register of interests.

Parliamentary rules state MPs must register “significant, formal unpaid roles such as an unpaid directorship, a directorship of a company not currently trading, or a trusteeship”.

The MP will sit as an independent in the Commons while the claims are investigated.

He sparked controversy after it emerged that he was jailed nearly two decades ago for repeatedly kicking his then-girlfriend in 2006 while drunk outside a nightclub.

Speaking on his time in prison, McMurdock said: "I would like to do my best to do as little harm to everyone else and at the same time accept that I was a bad person for a moment back then.

"I'm doing my best to manage the fact that something really regrettable did happen."

The full statement from Lee Anderson read: "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."

Writing on social media, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock said: "I confirmed to [Sunday Times] that all my business dealings had always been conducted fully within the law and in compliance with all regulations and that appropriately qualified professionals had reviewed all activity confirming the same.

"My business dealings have been reviewed by ICAEW qualified professionals. Absolute compliance was confirmed.

"My Register of Interests was completed with the support of IPSA.

"As a precautionary measure, and for the protection of ReformUK, I have asked to have the whip suspended temporarily."