Nigel Farage’s two-day trip to Davos cost more than £50,000 after he was given two guest passes by an Iranian-born billionaire, documents show.
The Reform UK leader officially declared his attendance at the conference on the register of MPs’ interests, after giving speeches at the Switzerland summit in which he pledged to “put the global elites on notice”.
Despite previously having dismissed the World Economic Forum as a jaunt for “globalists”, Farage also accepted £1,100 of luxury hotel accommodation from the conference organisers.
The Guardian revealed last month that Farage had his trip to Davos paid for by Sasan Ghandehari, which the Reform UK leader refused to confirm at the time. He was registered at the forum under the banner of HP Trust, which is the family office of Ghandehari and describes itself as having a portfolio value in excess of $10bn (£7.4bn).
HP Trust said Farage was an honorary and unpaid adviser since about 2018, but the Reform UK leader disputes that he has ever worked for them and declared no role for the firm on the register.
Since Farage’s funding from Ghandehari emerged, questions have been mounting for Reform about a £200,000 donation from a design firm, Interior Architecture Landscape, which counts the Ghandeharis as a major client.
The firm is officially owned by a John Richard Simpson, a conveyancer from Potters Bar, and the company insists that the Ghandeharis had no influence on the donation being made.
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In response to questions about the £200,000 donation, an Interior Architecture Landscape spokesperson said: “We confirm that the company has, in aggregate, approximately £15m in active contracts, including maintenance, refurbishment, and fit-out works, in relation to several properties across the United Kingdom.
“We further confirm that members of the Ghandehari family are clients of the company. We can also confirm that all members of the company’s management, its decision-makers and its clients are British citizens, and that the company conducts legitimate business activities within the United Kingdom. Accordingly, any political donations made by the company are fully compliant with applicable electoral law.
“Separately, the company’s management made a commercial and values-based decision to donate to Reform UK, reflecting the company’s view that Reform UK is seeking to improve the sectors in which the company operates.”
Little is known about Ghandehari, but his family is believed to derive its wealth from his late mother, Hourieh Peramaa, who has previously been described as a Kazakh-born Iranian investor who was a refugee before making billions through property.
She first appeared in the UK about 2008 when she bought one of the most expensive properties in London for £50m. The Ghandeharis are now known as art collectors, and he is the representative of a firm suing Christie’s auction house over the provenance of a Picasso painting previously owned by someone convicted of a drugs offence.
During his trip to Davos, Farage appeared at several events and said he would tax banks. He was also interviewed by Rebel News, a Canadian media outlet that platforms far-right contributors, whose reporter questioned Farage on whether he regretted comments about the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, who has threatened to sue him for wrongly saying his criminal conviction was in relation to violence against a woman.
Farage said he was “sorry if he got it slightly wrong” about Robinson’s conviction and added: “I don’t wish to have a fight with him. He does what he does, I do what I do. There we go.”
