The number of Reform MPs has gone down from five to four, again
Reform UK MP James McMurdock resigned the whip over the weekend, after The Sunday Times revealed details of thousands in business loans he took out under a Covid-19 support scheme.
According to the Times investigation, the Reform MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock took out Covid Bounce Back loans for two businesses in 2020.
McMurdock allegedly borrowed £50,000 for one business, JAM Financial Limited, which had no employees and under £5,000 in assets until the pandemic.
To qualify for a loan, the company would have been required to have a turnover of £200,000 or above.
Companies House records show he resigned as a director of the company in January 2021, and transferred his shares to Yvonne Allen.
McMurdock borrowed £20,000 for another company he owned, Gym Live Health and Fitness Limited.
The firm would have required a turnover of £80,000 to be eligible for the loan.
Again, the company had no employees and nominal assets until the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Reform MP resigned the whip on Saturday, yet insisted he had done nothing wrong. He said he told the Times that “all my business dealings had always been conducted fully within the law and in compliance with all regulations”.
He said he was resigning the whip as a “precautionary measure” and “for the protection of Reform UK” while the party carries out its own investigation into the allegations.
McMurdock won his seat by just 98 votes last July and will now sit as an independent. After he was elected, a Times investigation revealed that he was convicted for assaulting a former girlfriend at age 18. McMurdock tried to downplay the conviction.
Reform UK elected five MPs at the July 2024 election, which then went down to four when Rupert Lowe had the whip suspended in March this year. This came amid allegations he had threatened former Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf.
But Reform suspended the whip after Lowe accused Nigel Farage of leading the party like a “Messiah” and said he “must learn to delegate”.
Sarah Pochin was elected at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election back in May, briefly taking the number of Reform MPs back up to five.
In another blow to Farage, McMurdock’s resignation of the whip brings it back down to four.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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