PARTY’S POLL LEAD HAS FALTERED
Reform, which has seen its commanding lead in opinion polls falter over undeclared donor allegations, announced an internal investigation and said the two officials featured in the undercover filming – head of policy James Orr and Farage’s right-hand man Dan Jukes – had stepped down pending its results.
Orr, a philosophy professor at the University of Cambridge and friend of US Vice President JD Vance, said in a video on X that Reform had not been involved in commissioning the poll.
“There’s absolutely no way this could amount to a benefit or donation in kind at all,” he said.
“It wasn’t internal party polling. It wasn’t Reform UK’s poll. It was a public poll arranged by an independent person paying an independent pollster, and those polls were published immediately for the general public.”
The latest accusations over donations come on the first public day of the party’s annual conference, which Farage had hoped would offer him a chance of a reset after a difficult summer.
Farage, 62, is being investigated by a parliamentary watchdog over a £5 million donation from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024. He denies any wrongdoing but has seen support for his party soften in recent weeks.
LABOUR ALLEGE FURTHER POSSIBLE BREACHES
On Friday, Farage said both Jukes and Orr had “said things that shouldn’t have been said” in relation to donations purportedly originating in the United States, but no such donation had been accepted by the party and that the two had been “entrapped”.
In a letter to the Metropolitan Police, Labour said the documentary contained two further possible breaches: discussion of channelling a donation from a US-based donor through a UK-based son and the suggestion that similar methods have been used in the past.
A spokesperson for Reform said:
“Reform UK has been the target of a hoax perpetrated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors. The party denies any wrongdoing.
“Reform UK has a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.”
The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the allegations in the broadcast and would assess any information provided to them. This did not amount to the formal launch of an investigation.
The Electoral Commission, which oversees and regulates political finance in Britain, said:
“We are considering all relevant information, in line with our regulatory remit, and we are in touch with the Met Police.
“The Electoral Commission has not approved the donor vetting process for Reform, or any other party. Parties are responsible for ensuring their internal processes and controls are fit for purpose.”