A group of foreign-funded climate activists has accused senior figures in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of attempting to circumvent British electoral law to secure hundreds of thousands of pounds in foreign political funding.
The allegations emerged after undercover footage recorded Reform’s senior aide Dan Jukes and head of policy James Orr discussing arrangements for accepting money from a fictitious American donor to pay for opinion polling.
As a result of the accusation, the two men stepped down from their roles in the party. They left on September 4 pending the outcome of an internal investigation, a Reform UK spokesman said.
It is not the first time Reform and Farage have faced funding controversies: Farage is currently under investigation over an undeclared £5 million gift from Reform donor Christopher Harborne, while former aide George Cottrell has also faced scrutiny over money provided to support Farage.
This latest investigation was carried out by Verbatim Investigations, a newly established organisation founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR), and was broadcast by Britain’s Channel 4 News on Thursday.
Channel 4 said it independently verified the material supplied by Verbatim and did not pay for the polling involved in the investigation or provide funding to Verbatim.
Reform UK has denied wrongdoing and described the operation as a “hoax” carried out by “foreign-funded, climate change activists”.
The party has also questioned Verbatim’s independence, pointing to its links to the Centre for Climate Reporting and the climate movement.
However, they are executing an internal probe.
Undercover reporters posed as a British-based son of a wealthy American businessman interested in supporting Reform.
The investigation concerns three opinion polls commissioned by Reform at a total cost of £32,500 (€37,850).
According to Channel 4, Reform’s head of policy James Orr discussed a proposal under which the fictional American donor could pay for polling that would benefit the party.
The polling was subsequently carried out, with the invoices allegedly sent to the undercover reporter rather than identifying the American source of the money.
In the undercover footage, Jukes discussed the possibility of the fictional American’s son acting as the registered donor while receiving the money from his father.
The son told Farage that he would be the registered donor but that his father would transfer the money to him. Farage responded that the arrangement was “all above board” and thanked the two men.
The proposed donation was £500,000 (€582,300).
Channel 4 also reported that Jukes appeared to suggest that similar arrangements had been used previously, although parts of the conversation were not broadcast.
There is no evidence that the proposed £500,000 donation was actually transferred to Reform UK.
According to official records, none of the polling payments appear to have been so far disclosed by Reform UK to the Electoral Commission, Channel 4 said.
The Electoral Commission said in response to the allegations that information about any potential attempt to evade donation controls was a matter for the police.
British electoral law restricts political donations to permissible sources. These include individuals registered on a UK electoral register and certain UK-registered companies. Foreign individuals who do not meet those requirements cannot simply donate directly to a British political party.
The Electoral Commission also states that donations include not only cash but goods and services, including the payment of expenses incurred directly or indirectly by a political party and the sponsorship of research or publications.
It says political parties must report donations and certain other forms of financial support and must take reasonable steps to establish the true identity of donors and whether they are permissible sources. It also warns that attempting to evade the controls on political donations is an offence.
The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the reporting and would assess the matter and any information provided. It had not, at the time of reporting, opened an investigation.
The identity and foreign funding of Verbatim Investigations have themselves become part of the political dispute.
Verbatim was incorporated in July 2026 and is headed by Lawrence Carter, who previously worked as editor of Greenpeace’s investigative journalism project Unearthed before founding the Centre for Climate Reporting.
CCR describes itself as a non-profit investigative journalism organisation. According to information published by the organisation, it is funded through grants and donations.
Among its publicly identified funders are the European Climate Foundation, the KR Foundation, the Meliore Foundation, the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation and a fund administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
The KR Foundation, which is based in Denmark, has provided funding to CCR. Its stated objectives include accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.
Reform has seized on those links to argue that the undercover investigation was politically motivated.
“Reform UK has been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors,” the party said.
It also accused Verbatim of attempting to conceal its connection to CCR and questioned the methods used by Carter in previous undercover investigations.
Channel 4 has defended the investigation, saying its journalists independently checked and verified the material before broadcasting it. It said Verbatim was independent of Channel 4 and that the broadcaster did not pay either for the polling or for Verbatim’s work.
Reform has pointed to criticism previously directed at Carter’s work in the United States. The party cited comments from members of the US Congress who had questioned whether footage from a previous investigation into an ExxonMobil lobbyist had been substantially edited.
The allegations come as Reform UK faces increased scrutiny of its finances.
The party reported raising £5.3 million in donations between April and June, including a £4 million contribution from cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo. The donation accounted for roughly three quarters of the party’s reported fundraising for the quarter, according to Reuters.
Reform has also faced questions over previous financial support involving businessman Christopher Harborne, while Farage has denied that earlier arrangements breached electoral rules.
The latest allegations have prompted calls from opposition politicians for the Electoral Commission and police to investigate.
