Former MP Andrew Bridgen broke House of Commons rules by accepting a £4.47million interest-free loan and failing to declare it, a watchdog has ruled. The cash, from businessman Jeremy Hosking, was used to pay legal fees in a bitter court battle with Mr Bridgen’s own brother after they fell out over a family business.

Under House of Commons rules, Mr Bridgen did nothing wrong in accepting the money but should have revealed it in the Register of Members’ Interests, which is published on Parliament’s website, within 28 days. He did eventually declare the money following an investigation by a newspaper. The Commons Standards Committee said: “We hope that Mr Bridgen will now behave honourably and acknowledge that he was wrong, even if honestly wrong.”

And the Committee, which includes MPs and outside experts, said Mr Bridgen should have apologised in the Chamber of the Commons – but it is too late now, after he lost his seat in last year’s General Election.

Mr Bridgen had been Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire but fell out with the Tory party and joined the Reclaim Party, which is funded by Mr Hosking – a businessman reportedly worth £375million.

The former MP later left Reclaim too and stood in the constituency as an independent last year. The seat was won by Labour.

He did declare separate loans used for political purposes, but argued he did not need to declare a loan of £4,470,576.42 because it was used for a private legal case.

But the Standards Committee said: “The purpose for which the money was provided was private and personal; Mr Bridgen’s relationship with a political donor nonetheless raised sufficient reason to make such donations a matter for registration.”

His legal battle against his brother Paul concerned the vegetable processing firm AB Produce. Andrew Bridgen claimed the family firm had behaved prejudicially towards him as a shareholder, but lost a case in the High Court. Judge Brian Rawlings found Andrew Bridgen was “dishonest” about his motives when he reported his brother for fraud to the police, Lloyd’s Bank and the accountancy firm KPMG.

The former MP was a well-known figure at Westminster and an outspoken sceptic of Covid lockdowns and vaccines.