Reform has suspended two senior officials after they were filmed in an undercover investigation appearing to plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations.
In a blow to Nigel Farage hours before his conference speech, the party said it had launched an investigation into the actions of James Orr, the party’s head of policy, and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage, after the broadcast by Channel ۴ News.
Jukes and Orr were filmed by a group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, helping to orchestrate a plot apparently to bypass election laws.
The journalists posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £۳۰,۰۰۰ of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party when it was published in national newspapers.
If found to have been a donation in kind and made from abroad, it would have been impermissible as it was a foreign source and was not registered with the Electoral Commission.
Farage was subsequently caught on camera in a meeting with the fake US donor in Clacton where he appears to be celebrating the success of the poll, saying it was “amazing” and provided “bang for buck”, adding: “It worked. Boom.”
The Liberal Democrats and Labour have reported the actions of Reform to the police to investigate whether there has been a breach of electoral law.
On Friday morning, Farage said the party had done nothing wrong and no rules were broken, saying on LBC that polls were funded by foreign sources all the time.
However, a Reform UK spokesperson said the officials would be suspended pending an investigation, saying: “Reform UK has launched an investigation following the broadcast of a Channel ۴ News programme. Both individuals involved have stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing.”
Reform initially described the investigation as a “hoax” and dismissed those behind it as activists, in a series of counterattacks against the outfit behind the undercover filming. But by Friday morning, it had taken action, as the statement announced the investigation into Orr and Jukes, in what appeared to be an attempt to distance Farage from their actions.
However, there appeared to be some controversy over how to deal with Orr and Jukes. Lee Anderson, the party’s chair, said Orr and Jukes were not coming back, telling Sky News: “I think it’s only right and proper, that we’re fair, open and transparent and get this investigation launched today. And the two people concerned in the video, they’ve gone.
“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.”
Richard Tice, the deputy leader, later did not rule out them returning to their roles after the inquiry. He also told BBC Radio ۴’s Today programme the party had a legal opinion from a KC saying no rules had been broken and he believed Channel ۴ News had broken rules with entrapment.
The footage is likely to continue to raise awkward questions for Farage, on the day of his conference speech, about whether there are other instances of Reform aides having attempted to circumvent electoral law. It is likely to reopen intense scrutiny of Reform’s approach to donations and its finances, which are already the subject of a standards inquiry and police investigation.
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In footage of another meeting, Jukes appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son. When the possible structure was explained to Farage, footage of a meeting between him and the fake donors shows him saying: “Thank you both.”
At another point, Orr appeared to suggest that the fake UK-based donor and his US father might secure a meeting with Farage if he could promise a five- or six-figure sum – a meeting that later took place in Clacton over oysters and champagne.
In a different clip, Orr can be heard saying of the poll funding arrangement that Farage “doesn’t know, won’t know” and it was the kind of thing he would “rather not know”. At one point the footage shows him saying it was “totally legit” and with “nothing untowards about it at all”.
Jukes, a close aide to Farage, was also filmed meeting the fake donor, and at a Reform UK reception where in one conversation he appeared to introduce the undercover operative as a “key donor for off-the-book project”.
In footage of a meeting with the fake US donor, he is heard describing the polling as “clandestine” and “hugely important”.
The polling, conducted by JL Partners, made headlines before the local elections in May. The foreign source of funding and its links to Reform were not publicly disclosed and the Telegraph said it had suspended the articles about the polling, while the Times said it was not aware of the relationship with Reform.
After Channel ۴ News’s broadcast, Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said the “scandal goes right to the top of Reform UK”. She added: “Nigel Farage needs to urgently prove today that his top team haven’t broken the law and secretly plotted to undermine our democracy.”
Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, called on the police and the Electoral Commission to investigate.
