Reform UK is at the centre of yet another donations row just as its party conference kicks off, with the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Greens all calling for police action, ITV News Political Correspondent Harry Horton and Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks report
Credit: Channel 4 News and Verbatim
The Liberal Democrats have reported Reform UK to the Metropolitan Police and Electoral Commission, with other parties calling for a probe, following an undercover investigation into alleged breaches of party donation rules.
Reform leader Nigel Farage and other senior members were filmed celebrating secret donations by an actor posing as a rich American donor, and discussing polling they thought had been paid for by an American company.
The investigation by Verbatim, verified and aired by Channel 4 News, comes as Reform UK holds its 2026 conference in Birmingham, where the party will be hoping to recover from a dip in the polls and scrutiny over a previous donation of £5 million currently under investigation.
Following Thursday’s report, in a letter to the Met Police’s special inquiry team, Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart wrote: “I am writing to report to your unit a potential serious breach of electoral law, involving the acceptance and concealment of a donation from an impermissible donor.
“The breach raises alarming questions about whether there has been a wider complacency toward foreign interference by the individuals involved.”
Speaking to ITV News, she said that Farage “tries to carry on like he’s a man of the people, but he’s there trying to get really large amounts of money out of foreign donors looking to interfere in our politics over wine and oysters.
“It looks very much like a clear, brazen and knowing flouting of the rules and it is utterly, utterly shocking.”
Labour also intends to report the matter to the police, it is understood, and the Greens have called for a probe.
“It’s not just Farage’s secret £5 million ‘gift’. Time and again he and his mates think the rules don’t apply to them. The sleaze and scandal now engulfing him and his Party isn’t going away – it’s getting worse.
The Met Police has confirmed it has not launched an investigation, but said in a statement: “We’re aware of media reporting on Thursday, 3 September, involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling.
“We will assess this matter and any information provided to us.”
Reform denies any wrongdoing.
It comes as party leader Farage faces an ongoing investigation by the Electoral Commission over whether he should have declared £5 million that he received from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024, and a declaration of benefits from convicted fraudster and long-term ally George Cottrell.
Farage denies any wrongdoing in both cases, but the latest exposé will mean he faces additional pressure and scrutiny.
In the UK, foreign donations are banned from politics, but the footage shows the party’s head of policy James Orr and Farage’s right-hand man and political communications advisor Dan Jukes arranging for an American company to fund three influential polls that the party had commissioned.
These seemingly independent polls later made headline news, and two of them helped galvanise support for the party ahead of the local elections in May.
But the issue is that the public were not informed that Reform UK had commissioned these polls and that the funding was from an “off the books” backer.
Co-founder of polling company JL Partners, James Johnson, spoke on camera about his awareness that Reform commissioned the polls, but it was not declared.
The company said it holds itself to high standards and said: “Despite there being no concern about the accuracy of our work, the report did reveal weaknesses in our procedures.
“For that reason JL Partners is reviewing those procedures in order to eliminate possible grey areas and ambiguities and strengthen our safeguards for the future.”
In total, the three polls cost £32,500, and were actually paid for by Verbatim, although Reform UK believed it was money from a foreign donor.
Orr and Jukes did not know that the supposed donors behind the US company were actually part of an undercover team posing as a wealthy American and his UK-based son, “William Lockwood”.
Farage later met with Lockwood and his ‘father’, played by an actor, over oysters and wine in his Clacton constituency during his by-election campaign.
Earlier in the year, Orr, a senior advisor to Farage, claimed that Farage would not need to know about the payments for the polling.
But in the later meeting, the Reform UK leader said the polling was “amazing” and provided ” bang for buck, adding: “It worked. Boom.”
During the undercover filming, Lockwood offered the potential for a larger donation to Reform UK, from the American father but via the UK-based son.
Jukes originally proposed this method, which would be illegal, at an earlier meeting, claiming this method was used by other donors in the party, although this could not be verified.
Farage thanked Lockwood and his ‘father’ for their donation and said that the support was “all above board”.
The undercover reporter had previously told Farage’s aides that the potential future donation would be for £500,000.
At the time of the investigation, Farage and his party were already facing scrutiny over their finances and fighting a by-election in Clacton following allegations of secret funding, something Farage has always denied was illegal.
Bob Posner, a lawyer and former Chief Executive of the UK Electoral Commission, has seen the key findings and said there should now be a criminal investigation as “serious criminal offences” may have been committed.
The US company that made the poll payments and the supposed American financier, resident in the US, are not permissible donors under electoral law.
The Electoral Commission makes clear that political party donations include funding that helps a party meet costs and expenses, such as payments for studies and research.
A spokesperson from the Electoral Commission said: “The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500.
“Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider.”
None of the polling payments appear to have been disclosed by Reform UK to the Electoral Commission.
In one of the recorded meetings with Orr, the Head of Policy said the Commission was “completely useless” and boasted “we could easily get away with it”.
In response to the filming, Reform UK issued a statement which said: “Reform UK has been the target of a hoax perpetuated 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 hoaxers are ‘Verbatim Investigations, ’ a new company, incorporated in July 2026 in an attempt to mask their true identity: the Center for Climate Reporting (CCR).
“The group has partnered with the publicly-owned Channel 4 in an attempt to mislead the public about the party’s donations and vetting processes.
“The same group, led by Greenpeace’s Lawrence Carter and far-left activist Louis Wilson, was busted attempting a similar hoax in the US at the end of last year. This is yet another establishment attack on Reform UK.”
The party said questions need to be answered on Channel 4’s awareness of Verbatim’s funding and the funding behind the illicit donations made to Reform UK.
Channel 4 News said: “The undercover work was conducted by Verbatim, an investigative group independent of Channel 4 News that was founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting.
“After being approached by Verbatim with the findings, journalists at Channel 4 News have since thoroughly checked and verified them.
“Channel 4 News did not pay for the polling and paid no money to Verbatim or any associated company.”