Police Investigate Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Over Donations

British police say they are launching a criminal ​investigation into allegations that the populist Reform UK party, ‌led by Nigel Farage, breached rules around political donations, after its officials were filmed by undercover reporters.

“Detectives have assessed the information ​provided and determined that there are potential offences requiring investigation,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in statement on Wednesday.

“The ​potential offences are similar in nature to matters already ⁠under investigation by the Met’s Special Enquiry Team relating to ​donations made to the same political party.”

Two of Farage’s senior aides, Dan Jukes and James Orr, were suspended last week after a Channel 4 investigation resulted in a number of allegations, including that the party had broken electoral law by arranging for a wealthy foreign donor to pay ​for political polling.

“Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and will fully ​cooperate with the investigation,” the party said in a statement. “We won’t be ‌commenting ⁠further while a live investigation is underway.”

Until recently, Reform held a commanding lead in opinion polls over both the governing Labour Party and the Conservatives, but this has faltered since allegations were made about an undeclared 5 million-pound ($6.8 million) gift to Farage, which he has said he did not think needed to be declared as it was a personal gift rather than a political donation.

The undercover investigation, broadcast on Sept. 3 by Channel 4 during Reform’s annual party conference, was carried out by ​investigative group Verbatim, which said it spent a ​year speaking ⁠to party officials about possible donations.

The undercover team posed as donors from the United States with British connections, eventually having ⁠lunch ​with Farage, who later told the ​BBC that he was “frankly not listening” to the conversation.

Undercover Actors

The documentary showed Reform’s then-head of policy, ⁠Orr and Farage’s former right-hand man, Jukes, discussing funding with undercover actors they thought were a U.S. businessman and his British-based son. The group had conversations about a payment for three opinion polls commissioned by the party.

Reform said after the documentary was broadcast that the party had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by climate activists, with Farage describing some of the comments as little more than “loose pub talk.”

Accepting donations from a foreign company, including donations in kind, such as paying for polling, could constitute a criminal offense.

Separately, an investigation into Farage’s donations was reopened by the parliamentary commissioner for standards in August after he won back his seat at a special election in Clacton-on-Sea, which he triggered by resigning.

Parliamentary Investigation Resumed

Before he announced he was standing down to allow the electorate in his Essex constituency to show whether or not they backed him, the investigation into Farage was opened by the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over the 5 million-pound ($6.8 million) gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne.

The Reform leader, a leading architect of the Brexit campaign, received Harborne’s gift prior to taking his seat in the Commons after the 2024 general election. Farage has said the money will be used to fund security for himself and his family, which he says he will need for life due to the number of threats he receives.

Farage has previously defended the gift as being purely personal and said the investigation was being used as a “political tool” by the establishment.

Farage, who comfortably won back his Clacton seat after the other major parties refused to stand candidates, has also come under scrutiny over support provided by George Cottrell, a long-term ally nicknamed “Posh George.”

According to the Times of London, Cottrell, a British aristocrat who was convicted of fraud and jailed in the United States, gave substantial donations to Reform for security, housing and staff.

If Farage is found to have broken the rules around donations and a suspension from Parliament of more than 10 days is imposed, this could trigger a recall petition and force the Reform leader to fight a second by-election, which would this time be contested by the other major parties.

Rebound for Labour

Since prime minister Andy Burnham took over the top job from predecessor Keir Starmer in July, Labour has seen an improvement in its approval ratings at the opinion polls—a so-called “Burnham bounce”—while Reform has lost ground.

The next national election does not have to take place until 2029, although the prime minister can call one at any time. Labour won a large majority in 2024, following 14 years of Conservative rule. Reform won only 5 out of 650 seats in 2024, despite achieving 14.3 percent of the popular vote.

Reform’s fortunes at the opinion polls began to rise rapidly shortly after Starmer came to power, amid growing discontent over soaring levels of immigration and a stagnant economy.

The latest opinion polls show Labour edging back in front of Reform. Pollcheck put Labour on 25.4 and Reform on 22.7, with the Tories on 20.1, in a survey carried out in the last week.

Reuters contributed to this report.