Nigel Farage faces questions over who funded £885,000 Clacton constituency home

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage faces pressure to account for how his partner paid for a £885,000 home after a BBC investigation raised further questions about his previous explanation.

The Clacton MP has denied avoiding more than £44,000 in additional stamp duty on the purchase of the constituency home by putting it in his partner Laure Ferrari's name, saying that she bought it with her own funds.

He suggested that she was able to afford to buy the four-bedroom home, which was bought without a mortgage, because she comes from a wealthy French family.

However, the BBC has examined French property and company records and has been unable to find evidence that Ferrari's parents have the means to give their daughter a significant contribution towards the purchase of the home.

It comes as Farage revealed that he has taken specialist legal advice from a taxation King's Counsel on the purchase despite claiming he wasn't involved.

If the Reform leader was the source of funds used for the home, which he has previously denied, it would be legal for his partner to use them to buy the property in her name and pay the lower rate of stamp duty.

But it would open Farage to charges of hypocrisy and seeking to avoid tax, particularly after he criticised former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner last week for avoiding stamp duty.

He said his partner was the sole legal and beneficial owner of the property.