Nigel Farage is facing fresh criticism on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4. A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, funded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party. The polling was not attributed to Reform, and was reported in the Telegraph and the Times without those newspapers knowing that it was commissioned by the party and paid for by the US donor.
The benefit in kind was also not reported to the Electoral Commission. In footage of another meeting, a senior adviser to Farage, Dan Jukes, appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son. When the possible structure was explained to Farage, footage of a meeting between him and the fake donors shows him saying: “Thankyou both.” The investigation will reopen intense scrutiny of Reform’s approach to donations and its finances, which are already the subject of a standards inquiry and police investigation.
Reform said it had been “the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors” and the party denied any wrongdoing. In Channel 4’s investigation, broadcast on Thursday night, footage shows the fake UK-based supporter also had conversations with Reform UK’s head of policy, James Orr, who talked about commissioning polling that would be paid for by the US-based father. In the film, Orr can be heard saying of the arrangement that Farage “doesn’t know, won’t know” and it was the kind of thing he would “rather not know”.
At one point the footage shows him saying it was “totally legit” and with “nothing untowards about it at all”. Farage was subsequently caught on camera in a meeting with the fake US donor in Clacton where he appears to be celebrating the success of the poll, saying it was “amazing” and provided “bang for buck,” adding: “It worked. Boom.” Jukes, a close aide to Farage, was also filmed meeting the fake donor and at a Reform UK reception appearing to introduce the undercover operative in one conversation as “key donor for off the book project”.
In footage of a meeting with the fake US donor, he is heard describing the polling as “clandestine” and “hugely important”. The polling, conducted by JL Partners, made headlines ahead of the local elections in May. The foreign source of funding and its links to Reform were not publicly disclosed, and the Telegraph said it had now suspended the articles about the polling, while the Times said it was not aware of the relationship with Reform.
After Channel 4’s broadcast, Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said the “scandal goes right to the top of Reform UK”. She added: “Nigel Farage needs to urgently prove today that his top team haven’t broken the law and secretly plotted to undermine our democracy.” Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, called on both the police and the Electoral Commission to investigate. A Reform spokesperson said: “Reform UK has a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.
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