New Funding Scandal Rocks Reform UK as Officials Step Down

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1454 EAT on Friday 4 September 2026

Two officials from Britain’s Reform UK have stepped down amid the latest in a series of funding scandals involving the right-wing political party.

Party officials James Orr and Dan Jukes announced on Friday that they would resign following the broadcast of an investigative television documentary. Reform UK, which has faced declining support amid a series of reports alleging breaches of political donation rules, said it would launch an investigation into the latest allegations.

An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News alleged that Reform UK officials breached political donation rules by arranging for polling to be paid for by an overseas company.

In the documentary, Jukes is shown allegedly suggesting ways an undercover reporter could circumvent electoral law to make donations to the party from abroad.

In another exchange, party leader Nigel Farage, who is seated at the table, says everything is “above board” after the undercover reporter tells him he has been in discussions with Orr for some time.

The resignation of Jukes, a long-time aide to Farage, and Orr, Reform UK’s head of policy, comes on the eve of the party’s annual conference.

Farage, who has faced growing questions in recent months over money received both personally and by Reform UK, insisted in a radio interview on Friday that the party had “broken no laws”.

However, he acknowledged that “entrapped conversations don’t look good”, adding that this was why the party had launched an investigation into the allegations.

A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said the force was “aware of media reporting” concerning political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling.

The ruling Labour Party and opposition Liberal Democrats said they had reported Reform UK to the police following the revelations, which the anti-immigration party initially dismissed as a “hoax”.

Farage hit back by accusing other political parties of “selling peerages”.

“In the world of political funding, all sorts of things have been done over decades that are wrong,” he said. “We as a party have done nothing wrong. A couple of our contractors have said things that shouldn’t have been said.”

Amid a series of funding scandals that have hit Reform UK in recent months, the disclosure of an undeclared £5 million ($6.7 million) personal gift to Farage from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne has caused the most damage to the party so far.

Both criminal and parliamentary investigations into Harborne’s donations are ongoing. He has also donated more than £25 million ($33.6 million) to Reform UK.

Scrutiny has focused on Tether, the cryptocurrency associated with Harborne, which has been linked in reports to criminal activities including drug trafficking, fraud and human trafficking.

Amid the controversy, Farage made international headlines after resigning his parliamentary seat to trigger a by-election, in which he portrayed himself as taking on “the establishment”.

With other major parties dismissing the move as a political stunt and declining to field candidates, the populist leader won comfortably. However, the nearly 10,000 votes secured by his closest rival, the self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” Count Binface, highlighted the level of opposition to Farage’s return.

-Aljazeera

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