Reform UK's leading figures have repeatedly promoted a new pothole-fixing machine by the construction company JCB, while the party received £200,000 from the British digger maker, the Guardian can reveal. Several Reform politicians including Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick, Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro machine.
Farage's Endorsement and Donation
At a rally last year in Birmingham, Farage entered the stage on one of the repair vehicles and suggested it would be used in Reform-run councils when the party had taken control at local elections. Describing JCB as 'one of the most incredible companies in the world' in March 2025, he said: 'This machine can mend potholes at half the cost that currently is being charged by other commercial operators, and aren't potholes just the perfect symbol of broken Britain?'
After Farage lavished praise on the business, JCB gave a donation of £200,000 to Reform in November last year. The donation came after years of the family-owned company giving money to the Conservatives, with its chairman, Anthony Bamford, having sat as a Tory peer until 2024.
Reform Politicians' Promotions
A month ago, Anderson posted a video of a PotHole Pro at Nottinghamshire county council, saying: 'Have a look at this, you've got to be impressed.' Jenrick visited a JCB factory with Nottinghamshire council in February claiming the machine could fix potholes six times faster, while Tice recorded a video on one at a Reform conference last autumn saying he was 'excited to see this fantastic machine working'. Yusuf, the party's home affairs spokesperson, also accused councils of using 'iron age technology' of pickaxes rather than 'cutting edge tech like the JCB Pothole Pro' in May last year.
Council Usage and Lib Dem Complaint
At least two Reform-run councils have adopted the machines through their contractor. They said this had been done through the proper procurement channels and not cost them any more money. Councils run by other parties, including the Tories and Labour, also make use of the PotHole Pro. Reform are even promoting the JCB equipment on some local election leaflets, with Byline Times identifying two flyers in Barnet and Kirklees, where the machine is named as the answer to public frustration with degraded road surfaces.
Given the publicity being afforded to JCB, the Liberal Democrats have sent a complaint to the Electoral Commission and are calling for an investigation into whether the 'public contracts may be being traded for political patronage'. The party questioned whether Reform was 'providing a product promotion service or a favourable policy environment' for JCB, asking if this was appropriate given the business was a donor.
JCB and Council Responses
A spokesperson for JCB said: 'The JCB Pothole Pro has a proven track record in undertaking permanent pothole repairs four times faster and at half the cost of traditional methods. For this reason, JCB Pothole Pro machines are in use in Labour-led councils, Conservative-led councils, Reform-led councils, SNP-led councils and Liberal Democrat-led councils right across Great Britain.' Two Reform-led councils using the pothole fixing machine are Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. In Lincolnshire, where a previous trial in 2021 did not find the machine effective, the council confirmed this week that the PotHole Pro was 'here to stay' after 'the impressive kit completed an intensive trial on the county's roads'.
In relation to the Lib Dem complaint, the councillor Sean Matthews, leader of Lincolnshire county council, said: 'Given that this trial has been conducted, and that analysis has been overseen, by a very long-standing and respected group of (independent) officers who have been given the absolute freedom to say yes or no to this machine, I do not see how these comments apply to what has happened here.' Reform sources said the councils were working with contractors rather than JCB directly to trial kit and make decisions based on effectiveness. They also strongly rebutted any suggestion that Reform 'are or would ever trade public contracts for political patronage, unlike the Tory or Labour parties'.
