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Sting sparks resignations
Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England opened under a donations cloud after a Channel 4 investigation filmed senior Reform officials Dan Jukes and James Orr discussing ways to circumvent UK electoral laws on foreign donations.
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The footage shown on Thursday night included Jukes appearing to talk about a proposal for Reform to receive a 500,000-pound donation from a man presenting himself as an American financier, with the payment routed through his son who he said lives in the UK.
Reform said two senior officials stepped down on Friday and launched an internal probe after the allegations, with Orr and Jukes resigning pending the outcome.
In a separate set of footage, Orr discussed a plan for the US donor to fund opinion polls for Reform UK rather than donating directly, telling the undercover reporter, "we just don’t have British-resident donors, British entities, that would support us".
The party’s resignations and probe came as the Labour Party wrote to the police asking them to investigate possible criminal offences, while the Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the allegations and would assess any information provided to them.
Farage denies wrongdoing
Nigel Farage sought to downplay the allegations as Reform’s conference dominated by the resignations, telling reporters the party had done nothing wrong and framing the undercover filming as "loose pub talk" and a "bit of boasting and a bit of jack the laddery".
Farage also accused the undercover journalists of entrapment and told LBC, "they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said".
Reform initially denied any wrongdoing and claimed the allegations were a hoax, before later saying it was conducting an internal probe and that Orr and Jukes had stepped down pending its outcome.
Orr, the party’s policy head, said he agreed to step down temporarily and would "cooperate fully" with the investigation, while Jukes denied any wrongdoing but said he had "stepped back from politics in order to clear my name".
The BBC said the undercover filming was broadcast as the party tried to demonstrate it was a serious party of government, but it was overshadowed by questions about the two aides who had stepped down while an internal investigation took place.
Police, Electoral rules
The dispute turned on UK electoral law limits for political party donations, with the Electoral Commission spokesperson saying parties must report all "permissible donations" exceeding 11,180 pounds and all "impermissible donations" exceeding 500 pounds.
“political parties must report all “permissible donations” they accept exceeding 11,180 pounds”
Channel 4 News and Verbatim said the undercover work showed senior Reform figures arranging for a US company to fund three opinion polls, with the three polls costing £32,500 in total, and Channel 4 reporting that none of the polling payments appeared to have been disclosed to the Electoral Commission.
Bob Posner, a lawyer and former Chief Executive of the UK Electoral Commission, told Channel 4 there should now be a criminal investigation as "serious criminal offences" may have been committed.
The BBC reported that the ruling Labour Party had asked police to investigate possible criminal offences, while the Metropolitan Police said it would assess any information provided to them, without formal launch of an investigation.
As the conference continued in Birmingham, the allegations also intersected with Reform’s broader political standing, with the BBC noting Reform’s polling numbers had dipped while Labour’s had risen and that the story risked spreading perceptions of sleaze as a barrier to backing Reform.