British police have opened a criminal investigation into Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, over allegations that it accepted foreign donations in breach of UK law. The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Wednesday that detectives had received multiple reports relating to donations and polling involving the party and had determined that potential offences required investigation.
The probe follows an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News, which claimed to show senior Reform UK officials discussing ways to channel money from an American financier through his UK-based son to circumvent rules that ban political parties from accepting foreign donations. Under UK law, political parties cannot accept money from overseas donors.
Reform UK has denied any wrongdoing and said it will fully cooperate with the investigation. In a speech to the party's conference on Friday, Farage insisted the party had not broken any rules or accepted "dodgy money". However, the party confirmed that Farage's aide Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr have stepped down following the documentary's release.
What the undercover footage shows
The Channel 4 documentary, produced with the investigative group Verbatim, showed Jukes discussing a potential £500,000 (€580,000) donation with two men posing as a US financier and his UK-based son, while Farage was present. The supposed son was actually a reporter, and the man posing as his father was an actor. In a separate segment, Orr appeared to discuss whether the supposed US donor could fund opinion polls commissioned by the party.
The former chief executive of the Electoral Commission told Channel 4 that the evidence pointed to possible criminal offences. The Metropolitan Police said the potential offences raised by the programme 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", and will be folded into that ongoing inquiry.
Reform UK was already under scrutiny before the documentary aired. Farage is being investigated by Parliament's standards watchdog over an undeclared gift worth around £5 million (€5.8 million) from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire in 2024. Police are also investigating donations made to the party ahead of the 2024 general election by the mother of George Cottrell, a Farage aide who previously served a prison sentence for fraud in the United States.
The investigation adds to the political pressure on Reform UK, which has been rising in opinion polls and is positioning itself as a major force in British politics. The party's funding practices have become a focal point for critics who question its commitment to transparency.
This story is part of a broader pattern of political finance controversies across Europe, where parties in several countries have faced scrutiny over foreign money. In Hungary, for example, the government has been negotiating with Brussels to unlock EU funds amid rule-of-law concerns, as Hungary moves to unlock €4.2bn in EU funds. Meanwhile, the European Commission has been stretched by the pace of reforms in candidate countries, as Moldova's reform pace strains EU Commission resources.
The Met's investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been brought. Reform UK has said it will cooperate fully, but the party's leadership faces difficult questions about its compliance with electoral law.
