Reform UK officials were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4, exposing the party to fresh criticism on the eve of its annual conference.
The investigation, conducted by a group of investigative journalists called Verbatim and funded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, involved posing as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor. The fake US donor paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform, which benefited the party but was not attributed to it.
Undercover meetings and undisclosed polling
The polling was reported in the Telegraph and the Times without those newspapers knowing it was commissioned by Reform and paid for by the US donor. The benefit in kind was also not reported to the Electoral Commission.
Footage of a meeting between Nigel Farage and the fake donors shows him saying: “Thankyou both.” In 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.
Reform UK’s head of policy, James Orr, was also filmed discussing 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, he says it was “totally legit” and with “nothing untowards about it at all”.
Reactions and denials
Reform said it had been “the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors” and denied any wrongdoing. A party spokesperson said: “Reform UK has a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission. The hoaxers are ‘Verbatim Investigations’; a new company, incorporated in July 2026 in an attempt to mask their true identity: the Centre for Climate Reporting.”
Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said the “scandal goes right to the top of Reform UK”, adding: “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.
Funding context and scrutiny
The investigation is likely to create a serious problem for Farage as he attempts to move past Reform’s summer of funding scandals, with his party conference speech scheduled for Friday. Reform outperformed both Labour and the Conservatives with donations of more than £5m in the second quarter of this year, according to new figures from the Electoral Commission.
The party remains reliant on a handful of mega-donors based abroad, who could be caught by the government’s new £100,000 annual cap on overseas funders, which requires donors to have been a UK resident for 12 months. The biggest donation in recent months was £4m from Ben Delo, a crypto entrepreneur based in Hong Kong who in April said he was moving back to the UK. Delo, convicted in the US in 2022 for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls, has previously given Reform £4m.
Party sources said it was “very confident” that none of Delo’s latest £4m would need to be returned due to the cap when the legislation is passed. Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based billionaire who has given the party £15m and £5m to Farage personally, did not give any cash after the cap was introduced in March. The £5m gift to Farage from before the last election is currently under investigation by the standards commissioner.
