Quaffing Pol Roger champagne at The Spectator's summer party on Wednesday evening, George Swinfen Cottrell laughed off Nigel Farage's unexpected absence. The Reform UK leader, rarely one to miss a party, had cancelled at the last minute amid reports about his property portfolio.

For a man with no official role in Reform, 32-year-old Cottrell has become one of the most influential figures in Farage's orbit. Better known as 'Posh George', the chubby-cheeked aristocrat and convicted fraudster has spent a decade by Farage's side, acting as an adviser, confidant and, it is now reported, benefactor. 

He's flown Farage around the world in private jets; they are regulars at the Battersea helicopter pad, and he funds a fleet of expensive cars at Farage's disposal.

In the summer of 2024, the millennial was among only a handful of staffers trusted with the information that Farage had secretly decided to abandon his earlier denials and stand for Parliament after all.

The closeness between the two is such that, in one of Cottrell's London homes, sits a signed copy of Farage's maiden Commons speech, with a message from the man himself: 'Thank you for everything! Nigel Farage.'

Farage, according to Reform sources, treats him more like his son than staff. Cottrell, in turn, reportedly calls the Reform leader 'Daddy'.

What makes the relationship all the more extraordinary is Cottrell's criminal past. In 2016, he stepped off a plane in Chicago alongside Farage after a Donald Trump campaign event and was arrested by federal agents.

US prosecutors alleged that Cottrell had explained to undercover agents, posing as drug traffickers, how criminal proceeds could be laundered through Bitcoin. Facing 20 years in jail for criminal counts, including money laundering, fraud, blackmail and extortion, he brokered a plea deal and ended up serving eight months in maximum-security prisons in Arizona and Illinois.

Far from hiding that chapter of his life, Cottrell has embraced it, describing himself as a 'former federal inmate' and recounting stories about the gangland figures he met behind bars. Earlier this year he co-authored How To Launder Money which, he claims, is intended to help lawmakers tackle financial crime. Farage attended the book launch.

Reportedly worth more than £120million in his own right, it's not clear how Farage's much-vaunted 'man of the people' credentials are enhanced by his closeness to the sharp-suited Cottrell.

The son of the Honourable Fiona Cottrell, whose brief romance with the then-Prince Charles ended after she posed for Penthouse magazine, he is the grandson of the 3rd Baron Manton, heir to the Pears soap fortune.

Educated at Malvern College, Cottrell was expelled for gambling. Today, he drives a £300,000 Lamborghini and his main home is an £8million townhouse in west London. He also rents a property near Parliament for tens of thousands of pounds a month, which Farage used as his London bolthole.

Could Farage now be regretting his acceptance of his enigmatic young adviser's generosity?