"Detectives continue to liaise closely"
The Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Reform UK broke electoral law over foreign funding.
The investigation follows an undercover report broadcast by Channel 4 News last week, which appeared to show two senior Reform aides discussing ways of securing donations from overseas.
One potential donation discussed in the investigation was worth £500,000.
The Met’s Special Enquiry Team is now incorporating its investigation into an existing inquiry examining other donations made to Reform UK.
A Reform UK spokesman said the party “denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation”.
“We won’t be commenting further while a live investigation is under way.”
The Metropolitan Police said it had received “a number of reports relating to donations and polling involving a political party” following the Channel 4 News and Verbatim Investigations broadcast on Thursday evening.
The force confirmed that the allegations being investigated concern potential breaches of electoral law.
In a statement, the Met Police said: “All allegations under investigation relate to potential offences under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
“Detectives continue to liaise closely with the Electoral Commission and Crown Prosecution Service as enquiries progress.”
The force added that detectives were seeking to obtain footage connected to the broadcast as part of their enquiries.
The report has placed further pressure on Reform UK and overshadowed the party’s conference in Birmingham.
It also resulted in the departures of two senior figures, Dan Jukes, chief of staff to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and James Orr, the party’s head of policy.
During the undercover investigation, a reporter posing as the son of an American donor raised concerns about whether his father could legally make a direct donation to Reform UK.
Under UK electoral law, permissible donors to political parties include individuals registered to vote in the UK and companies registered in the UK.
Jukes appeared to suggest that the money could instead be donated in the name of the American donor’s UK-based son, despite the funds coming from his father.
Orr was separately recorded discussing another potential route for financial support. He appeared to suggest that the American donor could pay for opinion polling that would support one of Reform UK’s political campaigns.
The Electoral Commission has previously warned that political parties can only accept donations from permissible sources and that arrangements designed to disguise the true source of a donation can raise concerns under electoral law.
Jukes has denied “any wrongdoing” and said he had “stepped back from politics in order to clear my name”.
Orr has also said he would cooperate with Reform UK’s internal investigation “fully”, telling Sky News last week that he would assist with the party’s enquiries.
The Met’s latest investigation comes as the force was already examining whether payments made to Reform UK in the weeks before the 2024 general election complied with donation laws.
That separate inquiry includes donations made directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, a longstanding ally of Farage.
Police are also examining payments involving a company controlled by Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice.
The company received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024, with the circumstances surrounding the payment forming part of the existing investigation.
The latest allegations are therefore being examined alongside a wider police inquiry into Reform UK’s funding.
The Met has stressed that its investigation concerns potential offences and that enquiries remain ongoing. No conclusion has been reached that Reform UK or any individual has committed a criminal offence.
Detectives are continuing to work with the Electoral Commission and Crown Prosecution Service as they investigate the allegations and assess any available evidence.
