Undercover reporting suggests Reform is still home to extremists
Nigel Farage’s response to the investigation has been th shoot the messenger JONATHAN HORDLE/EPA T here must be mornings on which Nigel Farage catches sight of himself in the shaving mirror and wonders if he is, in fact, an undercover reporter who has fulfilled his brief to infiltrate the populist right a little too successfully. Given Reform UK’s struggles with investigative journalists in recent weeks, it would not be that surprising. Last month a party conference that was supposed to sell Mr Farage as Britain’s prime minister in waiting was overshadowed by an investigation by journalists from Channel 4 News and Verbatim, a not-for-profit investigative outfit. It appeared to implicate two of Mr Farage’s top lieutenants in a plot to circumvent electoral law on foreign donations. On Sunday it was the turn of ITV News and Hardcash Productions, whose hidden cameras recorded a sorry and at times shocking tale of casual racism, disorganisation and complacency within a party that nevertheless seeks a mandate to govern this country. Most commented 1 Russian strikes ‘leave half a million Ukrainian homes without power’ Russia-Ukraine war 387 comments 2 Third of investors ready to stop UK spending after budget Politics 193 comments 3 ‘We’re 34 — we can’t wait to start being landlords’ Property & Home 75 comments 4 Douglas Dunn obituary: Scottish poet and academic Obituaries 24 comments 5 The beauty expert’s all-time favourite hair products Beauty 19 comments Undercover reporters found Reform councillors espousing racist views and using offensive language that even the party’s critics would have struggled to imagine. Muslims were described as “parasites” and black children as “animals” . One Reformer joked about sexually assaulting a colleague; others spoke of their wish to stage mass executions of the perpetrators of the grooming gang scandal. In another exchange, filmed inside Reform’s headquarters, the party’s head of communications said he wanted a “racist” mayoral candidate to be suspended, but Mr Farage said an apology would suffice . Politics newsletter Get our daily insider’s guide to Westminster, plus a rundown of PMQs every Wednesday. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Politics newsletter Explore our newsletters Reform has begun an investigation into the claims. It says there is no room for racism within its ranks and that its vetting procedures have since been improved. Yet, not for the first time, the party’s first instinct was to shoot the messenger. Last week Richard Tice, Mr Farage’s deputy, accused ITV and Hardcash of potentially criminal behaviour and of endangering the security of Reform politicians. Were he and Mr Farage truly serious about expelling racists and the far right from the party, Mr Tice would have instead thanked the journalists for exposing extremism. Top stories 1 Clodagh McKenna: I always get up at 6am on holiday. I love the calm Inspiration 2 16 of the best safaris in Africa Africa 3 13 of the best affordable hotels in New York New York City 4 The Marylebone pop-up for Christmas-maxxers LUXX 5 The best luxury gifts for Christmas 2026 LUXX Mr Farage knows that only a minority of the British electorate have the stomach for overt racism. He has always been careful to reject the street thuggery of Tommy Robinson and the ethnonationalism of the British National Party. Yet the net effect of Sunday’s exposé — and investigations like it — will be to remind wavering voters on the right that people with similarly extreme views can still be found within Reform’s ranks. Neither accusations of racism better suited to the bar rooms of the last century, nor the active police investigation into the party’s colourful finances, suggest that Reform is fit to be taken seriously as a contender for government. Recent opinion polls suggest voters are coming to the same conclusion. However frustrated Britons may be with the status quo, fewer and fewer of them are willing to look kindly upon Reform’s antics as a price worth paying for change. Advertisement Nor does Mr Farage possess the grip over his party machine that he likes to convey. Like Zack Polanski, the equally beleaguered leader of the Green Party, Mr Farage is being pulled by his unruly troops ever closer to the nuttier outer fringes of politics. As he well knows, ending up there would spell disaster for his insurgent party. But, for now at least, that is exactly where Reform is heading.