Police have launched a criminal investigation into the far-right Reform UK party, days after an explosive undercover report alleging the party breached campaign finance laws by using foreign donors to pay for political votes.
The announcement follows an undercover broadcast by British news outlet Channel 4 that showed a reporter meeting with the party’s former policy chief James Orr and senior aide Dan Jewkes to arrange for US companies to finance three polls commissioned by the party.
These polls were then reported by national newspapers, who unwittingly characterized political parties as nonpartisan and helped push an important narrative ahead of local elections in May. This means that reformists are in the ascendancy and pose a real electoral threat to the ruling center-left Labor Party and the center-right opposition Conservative Party.
A spokesperson for Reform UK told CNN the party “denies any wrongdoing and will cooperate fully with the investigation.”
The undercover reporter posed as the British son of a wealthy American who wanted to funnel money to reform through his son, as election laws prohibit foreign donations to political parties.
Mr Jewkes and Mr Orr, who resigned in the wake of the report, then arranged for the reporter and an actor posing as his wealthy father to meet party leader Nigel Farage, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, to discuss even larger donations from the US.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told CNN: “Following the Channel 4 News broadcast on Thursday, September 3, the Met received a number of reports of donations and votes linked to political parties.”
“Detectives evaluated the information provided and determined there was a potential crime that required investigation.”
The investigation will be integrated with existing investigations into other donations to the party, the Met added.
Reform has faced a barrage of financial allegations since the Guardian newspaper reported in April that Mr Farage had received an undisclosed £5m donation from a Thailand-based billionaire in 2024. Mr Farage has come under unprecedented political pressure, and he attempted to regain control by resigning from parliament and running for the seat again over the summer.
