Reform UK has been hit by a row over foreign donations as the party's leaders and supporters gather for their annual conference. The row centres on allegations which surfaced during undercover filming by Verbatim Investigations - founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting - and broadcast by Channel 4 News on Thursday. The party denies any wrongdoing and says it is investigating.
Robert Jenrick, Reform's economy spokesperson, said the two senior aides in the film had been suspended, telling the BBC's Today programme: "Nigel [Farage] got rid of the two people who did this…he acted swiftly, they've gone." Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have reported Reform to the Metropolitan Police, which says it is assessing the claims but has not launched an investigation. The Electoral Commission says it is "in touch" with the police. We have looked at each of the three main allegations and where they sit with the law.
In the film, Nigel Farage's senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform's head of policy James Orr suggest a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations for the party, one of which would have totaled £500,000. Jukes meets an undercover reporter posing as a UK-based son of a wealthy American financier, who voices concern that his father could not directly donate to Reform within the law. Jukes tells him: "You do realise that you can do it?" According to Channel 4, Jukes was suggesting that the donation could be in the son's name, even though the money would have come from his American father.
A similar arrangement is also mooted in a meeting with Orr. Farage is shown saying "it's all above board" and expressing thanks. On Friday, Farage said he was in fact asking whether it was above board.
Channel 4 says the proposed £500,000 donation was never made. Under electoral law, you must be a UK registered voter or a company registered in the UK to be a "permissable" donor to a UK political party. In this instance, the son would be a permissible donor, but his father would not be.
Any donation of more than £500 from an impermissible source must be declared to the Electoral Commission and returned within 30 days. If the party keeps it beyond that, it is deemed to have accepted the donation - and that could lead to a fine and potential criminal investigation. Two Reform officials step down after undercover donations report Farage says his aides' donor comments were 'loose pub talk' Channel 4 says Reform commissioned three opinion polls between January and July 2026, costing £32,500 in total.
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