George Madgwick, party leader on Hampshire county council, faces charges related to four teenagers between 2008 and 2021
Reform UK’s leader on Hampshire county council has been charged with 12 counts of rape and one of distributing indecent images of a child.
George Madgwick, 37, who is a councillor in Portsmouth and leads the Reform group on the council, was a prominent voice linked to recent protests in the city connected to the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats.
A Crown Prosecution Service statement said the charges followed a police investigation into allegations connected to four complainants, aged 16 and 17 at the time, and the offences are alleged to have taken place in Portsmouth and Wales between 2008 and 2021. On 6 January, officers arrested a man at an address in Wandsworth, London.
The charges comprise 12 allegations of rape; eight of actual bodily harm; two of assault by penetration; two of sexual assault; two of controlling and coercive behaviour; two of making an indecent image of a child; one of distribution of an indecent image of a child; one of stalking; one of making threats to kill; one of false imprisonment; one of criminal damage; one of theft; and one of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.
Madgwick is scheduled to appear at Portsmouth magistrates court on 25 November. A CPS spokesperson said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute George Madgwick for serious sexual offences, including multiple counts of rape. He has also been charged with making a threat to kill, false imprisonment and stalking.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring the case to court.
“We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial. There should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”
A Reform spokesperson said: “Cllr Madgwick has been suspended from Reform UK with immediate effect.”
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said: “These charges are truly shocking. Nigel Farage must urgently tell the public whether he was aware of Councillor Madgwick’s arrest, or of any of the appalling allegations he is accused of.
“If he was, the Reform leader must explain why he thought it was appropriate for Madgwick to stand for his party, hold a local leadership role, and to work as a Reform member of staff.”
Madgwick began his political career as an independent councillor on Portsmouth city council, winning his seat in 2021. In 2025, he joined Reform UK, and a year later he became a Hampshire councillor, representing the North East Havant area.
He was one of 20 Reform councillors to be elected, placing them third behind the Conservatives, who run the authority, and the Liberal Democrats. Madgwick became leader of the Reform group, and chair of the council’s corporate services and resources select committee.
In September, when masked protesters connected to the far-right activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, blocked roads in Portsmouth over the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats, Madgwick was at the scene and spoke to the media.
While saying it was important any protests were peaceful, Madgwick said local people were “not happy, and rightly so” about the arrival of asylum seekers.
He was involved recently in an incident in which protesters gathered outside a Portsmouth hotel after mistaking Pakistan’s under-19s cricket team for asylum seekers, liaising with hotel staff and persuading protesters to leave.
Madgwick called the hotel to mediate between staff and the assembled crowd, and said at the time that it was a “massively unfortunate incident”. He added, however, that he believed the incident was understandable given recent coverage of asylum seekers arriving in the city
On Tuesday evening, Madgwick posted on X: “I am shocked and dismayed at the charges brought against me.
“Whilst the charges are extremely serious, I will say unequivocally that I am innocent of the allegations against me. Due process must take its course and the legal process must be followed without hindrance.
“I considered it responsible to resign as Reform UK leader in Hampshire Council and I will continue as an independent until I’m cleared.
“I will not make any further statement now, or in the future, on this in any capacity. I will deactivate my social media shortly until due process has concluded.”
- UK news
- England
- news
Source: www.theguardian.com
