Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has been plunged into controversy after two of his most trusted advisers left their posts, following claims the party broke election funding law by letting an American company pay for opinion research.
The departures of Dan Jukes and James Orr come as Reform opens its annual conference in Birmingham, with the timing threatening to overshadow what should have been a moment for the party to set out its stall to members.
At the centre of the row is a Channel 4 News investigation, broadcast on Thursday, which claimed Reform allowed a US company to bankroll three polls, worth £32,500, that it had commissioned earlier in the year. According to Channel 4 News, the people posing as backers were undercover journalists from Verbatim, an investigative outfit, pretending to be an American investor and his UK-based son. Election law bars foreign firms from funding political parties in any form, including paying for research, and breaching that rule can carry criminal consequences.
Reform has strongly rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing. Speaking to LBC, Reform Leader Nigel Farage insisted “nothing illegal” had happened.
“The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that whatsoever.“ He said it was “a clear case of entrapment” and they “worked at it for a very, very long time, and they got a couple of our contractors to say things that perhaps should not have been said.”
“And as a result of that, you know, they have been removed this morning. And yeah, you know, I’m not happy about it.”
A party spokesman confirmed that an internal review was under way and that both men had left their positions while it was carried out, adding: “Reform UK has launched an investigation following the broadcast of a Channel 4 News programme. Both individuals involved have stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation.” The spokesman said the party did not intend to comment further until the review had concluded.
Both opposition parties moved quickly, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats reporting the matter to the Metropolitan Police. Officers said they were now looking into what had been reported. A force spokesman said: “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.”
This is not the only funding question hanging over Reform’s leadership. Separately, MPs are examining whether Mr Farage should have declared a £5 million gift from the crypto entrepreneur Christopher Harborne, handed to him just before he won the Clacton seat in 2024, while a second inquiry is looking at undeclared gifts and payments he allegedly received from his aide George Cottrell in the run-up to that same election. Mr Farage gave up the Clacton seat in July, forcing a by-election, and said at the time he had done nothing wrong and would let his constituents decide.
Labour’s party chairman, Bridget Phillipson, said the affair implicated Reform’s leadership directly, demanding swift reassurance from Mr Farage. She said: “This scandal goes right to the top of Reform UK. Nigel Farage needs to urgently prove today that his top team haven’t broken the law and secretly plotted to undermine our democracy.”
The Electoral Commission, meanwhile, spelled out the legal thresholds parties must observe. A spokesman explained: “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.”
The sting was carried out by Verbatim, a group founded by former Centre for Climate Reporting journalists, whose earlier work has largely targeted climate-related issues. Reform has previously argued Britain should focus on adapting to a warming climate rather than chase what it calls “stupid” net zero commitments, despite accepting that climate change is happening. On its website, Verbatim casts its work as challenging what it calls threats to democracy from multinational firms, wealthy individuals, populist movements, and oil-producing states.
Reform’s own account of events is starkly different, describing itself as the victim of entrapment by campaigners rather than a party that broke the rules. It said it had been “the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors,” and maintained it runs “a robust vetting process for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.”
Ahead of his resignation, Mr Orr, who led Reform’s policy operation, insisted no funds had actually reached the party. Posting a video to X, he said: “It was a public poll arranged by an independent person paying an independent pollster, and those polls were published immediately for the general public.”
The polling itself was conducted by JL Partners, and its findings were picked up by The Telegraph, which ran two of the results, and The Times, which published a third — neither title having been told that Reform was behind the commissions, the Telegraph reported. Telegraph Media Group said it was now reassessing its dealings with the pollster, with a spokesman telling the Telegraph: “We are reviewing our future relationship with this polling company, as we believe we have been misled. As a matter of precaution we have suspended the relevant articles while the British Polling Council conducts a review.” The Times said separately, in its own report, that it too had been kept in the dark about Reform’s role in commissioning and funding the poll it published.
For its part, JL Partners defended the quality of its polling while conceding its internal checks needed tightening. A spokesman 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.” The industry’s own watchdog, the British Polling Council, which obliges members to disclose who commissioned their polls, said the evidence pointed to a likely deliberate breach, and confirmed it would press JL Partners for further details.
Both men at the centre of the row have deep roots in Mr Farage’s political operation. Mr Orr, a theologian from Cambridge with strong connections in Washington, joined as a senior adviser in October 2025, taking charge of policy after Zia Yusuf moved across to lead on home affairs in February. Mr Jukes has an even longer history with Mr Farage, having worked alongside him for over a decade, since his days as a leading young activist for Ukip.
Reform’s chairman, Lee Anderson, left no doubt that the two men’s Reform careers were finished, telling Sky News: “There’s no chance of them coming back. They’ve stepped aside. We’re a serious party, you know, and sometimes in politics, you have to make tough decisions, harsh decisions. I think this probably was an easier decision, being given the option to stand down. They have gone.”
Based on reporting by Channel 4 News and Verbatim, and coverage by The Telegraph.
