Abu Dhabi funded Nigel Farage’s high-level UAE visit and Formula 1 hospitality

Abu Dhabi paid for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December to meet with senior officials, according to recently disclosed records.

The emirate, led by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, gifted the Reform UK leader and an additional guest accommodation and access to the Formula 1 season finale held in early December. According to the register of members’ financial interests, the value of this hospitality was approximately £10,000.

At the time, Farage shared a photograph on X (formerly Twitter) alongside Italian businessman Flavio Briatore, captioned: “In the Abu Dhabi paddock for the Formula 1 season finale.”

Records indicate that Farage also held “discussions” with senior Emirati officials during the two-day trip, which took place just before Parliament adjourned for the Christmas recess.

Sources familiar with the matter stated that the meetings were facilitated by Nick Candy, the Reform UK treasurer, who frequently travels to Arab nations for business purposes.

According to sources, the UAE leadership was eager to engage with Reform UK due to a shared opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood. Farage has previously stated that, if he were to take power, he would designate the Islamist group as a “terrorist organization” in the UK.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia, Syria, and Jordan have all officially designated the group as a terrorist entity.

While Keir Starmer’s government has not banned the Muslim Brotherhood, it stated last year that the matter remains under “close review.”

The donations and high-level meetings underscore the growing international interest in Farage’s right-wing party. Reform UK has surged in national opinion polls, currently sitting at approximately 30%, significantly ahead of the governing Labour Party.

Formula 1 is frequently utilized as a premier networking event, with Abu Dhabi—the capital and seat of power in the UAE—hosting a concentrated gathering of politicians, executives, and stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment.

However, it remains rare for foreign governments to invite and fund the travel of opposition party leaders to meet with their own leadership, in part because such gestures carry significant diplomatic weight.

Since becoming leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in November 2024, Kemi Badenoch has not received any donations to cover the costs of meetings with foreign leaders abroad.

While in opposition, the Qatari government covered the costs for then-opposition leader Keir Starmer to travel to Doha to meet with the nation’s Emir following the COP28 summit in 2023. The Qatari government funded Starmer’s private jet travel from Dubai to Doha; at the time, Starmer noted that the pair discussed the Israel-Hamas war and the “vital cooperation” between the two nations.

Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at the anti-corruption organization Transparency International, remarked that donations of the kind received by Farage are “not unprecedented.”

However, he added that the practice of foreign governments “funding trips that cover all expenses for British MPs… risks creating the perception—and the reality—that these MPs can be bought.”

Farage has previously voiced critical views regarding the UAE. In 2023, he urged then-Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ensure that Foreign Secretary David Cameron played no role in the proposed sale of the Telegraph Media Group to RedBird IMI—a joint venture between the US private equity group RedBird and IMI, an investment vehicle owned by the Abu Dhabi state.

At the time, Farage asserted that it was “unthinkable that the Conservative government would even consider allowing these assets to fall into the wrong hands on their watch, or encourage the importation of values that run contrary to a cornerstone of our democracy.”

In a separate announcement on Wednesday, Farage named Laila Cunningham, a Reform UK councillor from Westminster, as the party’s candidate for the 2027 London mayoral election.

“We will fight with all our might with the intention of winning the London mayoralty,” Farage said. “This place—once admirable, historic, amazing, and extraordinary—is now spoken of increasingly disparagingly across the world.”

Cunningham, a mother of seven and a Muslim, stated that while she loves the city, she is “not blind to what London has become,” citing rising crime rates in the capital.