Met Police launch criminal investigation into Reform UK donations

Police launch criminal investigation into Reform UK donations

The Metropolitan Police is carrying out a criminal investigation into allegations Reform UK broke the law in relation to foreign funding, following a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week. The film was shown on Thursday evening.

An undercover reporter recorded two senior Reform aides apparently suggesting a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations, one of which would have totalled £500,000. In the news report, an undercover investigator posing as the son of an American donor is recorded raising a concern that his father wouldn't be able to directly donate to the party within the law.

Electoral law states that to be a permissible donor to a UK political party you must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK. Jukes appears to suggest that the donation could be in the UK-based son's name, although the money would have come from his American father. Elsewhere James Orr, the party's head of policy, suggests that the father could pay for opinion polling to support one of Reform's campaigns.

A Met spokesperson said it had received "a number of reports relating to donations and polling involving a political party" after the film by Channel 4 News and Verbatim Investigations was shown. In its statement, the Met Police said: "All allegations under investigation relate to potential offences under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000." The police spokesperson said detectives were seeking to obtain footage relating to the broadcast, and continue to liaise closely with the Electoral Commission and Crown Prosecution Service as enquiries progress.

Impact on party figures and conference

The film overshadowed the party's conference in Birmingham and led to the party losing two key figures - Dan Jukes, chief of staff to the leader Nigel Farage, and James Orr, head of policy. Jukes has denied "any wrongdoing" and said he had "stepped back from politics in order to clear my name." Last week, Orr told Sky News he would cooperate with the party's internal investigation "fully."

A Reform UK spokesman said the party "denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation" and added: "We won't be commenting further while a live investigation is under way."

Wider police inquiries

The police investigation by the Met's Special Enquiry Team is being folded into an inquiry that has been under way into other donations to the party. The Met had already been investigating whether payments to Reform in the weeks before the last election complied with donation laws.

The probe is examining donations given directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longstanding Nigel Farage ally, George Cottrell. It is also examining payments from a company controlled by Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice, which received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024.