The leader of an opposition party in the UK, Nigel Farage, and other senior figures from Reform UK have been secretly filmed discussing undeclared funding from outside the UK. An investigation by Channel 4 News and investigative group Verbatim raises suspicions of breaches of British laws on political party funding.
According to the investigation, Reform UK official James Orr and Farage associate Dan Jukes arranged for an American company to fund three political polls commissioned by the party. The polls, worth a total of £32,500 (€37,000), were published in the media as independent research.
The investigative journalists posed as a wealthy American and his son living in Britain. They set up a company and paid for the surveys, while Reform UK executives were unaware that they were communicating with undercover journalists.
In late July, Farage met with undercover journalists over a dinner in his constituency of Clacton. He described the poll as “extraordinary” and “great value for money,” adding: “It worked. Boom.”
During the conversation, a possible donation of 581 thousand euros to Reform UK was also discussed. According to the plan, the money would come from the boy's father in the US, while the official donor would be the boy living in Britain.
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Election law expert Bob Posner, a former executive director of the Election Commission, said the evidence raises suspicions of "serious criminal offenses" and called for a criminal investigation.
The investigation also found that James Orr had previously discussed ways to fund polls without disclosing the connection to Reform UK. In one conversation, he said that such a payment could be considered a “donation in kind,” but added that no one would find out.
Dan Jukes described the agreement on the surveys as “extremely important” and said they had had a huge impact. He called these initiatives “small clandestine projects” and stressed that they did not appear in public records.
According to the investigation, the three polls were published in major British media outlets, including the Telegraph and the Times, without any disclosure of Reform UK's involvement in commissioning or funding them. None of the payments appear to have been declared as donations to the Electoral Commission.
Reform UK, Farage, Jukes and Orr have not commented substantively on the findings of the investigation and, according to Channel 4 News, deny the allegations. The Electoral Commission said information about possible attempts to circumvent funding rules should be referred to the police. /Telegraph/
