By Salma El-Sakka
George Madgwick, the leader of Reform UK on Hampshire County Council, has been charged with 12 counts of rape and a raft of other serious offences, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Tuesday.
Charges span 2008 to 2021
The charges relate to four complainants who were aged 16 and 17 at the time of the alleged incidents, which are said to have occurred in Portsmouth and Wales between 2008 and 2021. In addition to the rape counts, Madgwick, 37, faces eight charges 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 distributing 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.
CPS statement and court date
A CPS spokesperson confirmed that prosecutors found sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to proceed. Madgwick was arrested at an address in Wandsworth, London, on 6 January and is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on 25 November. The CPS warned against any reporting or commentary that could prejudice the proceedings.
Reform UK suspends councillor
Reform UK said Madgwick had been suspended from the party with immediate effect. Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson called the charges "truly shocking" and demanded that Reform leader Nigel Farage explain whether he was aware of the arrest or the allegations before Madgwick stood for the party and held a local leadership role.
Political background and protest involvement
Madgwick began his political career as an independent on Portsmouth City Council, winning his seat in 2021. He joined Reform UK in 2025 and was elected as a Hampshire councillor for North East Havant a year later, becoming leader of the Reform group and chair of the council's corporate services and resources select committee. In September, he was present at protests in Portsmouth over the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats, telling media that local people were "not happy, and rightly so." He also mediated an incident in which protesters gathered outside a hotel after mistaking Pakistan's under-19 cricket team for asylum seekers.
