Two senior figures in Reform UK have stepped down from their roles pending an internal investigation into allegations surrounding a proposed £500,000 foreign donation to the party.
Nigel Farage’s senior aide, Dan Jukes, and Reform UK’s former head of policy, James Orr, are both standing aside while the party investigates claims raised in a Channel 4 News report.
The allegations have emerged just as Reform UK begins its annual conference in Birmingham, threatening to overshadow the party’s major political gathering.
The Channel 4 report, broadcast on Thursday night, featured undercover footage in which Jukes appeared to discuss a possible method of circumventing electoral rules to facilitate a £500,000 donation from an overseas source.
The undercover operation was conducted by Verbatim Investigations, an organisation founded by journalists associated with the Centre for Climate Reporting. Channel 4 News said it had independently verified the material before broadcasting it.
Reform UK has denied wrongdoing, describing the investigation as an alleged hoax carried out by climate-change activists with foreign funding.
The controversy has now been referred to the Metropolitan Police by both the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats. The force said it would assess the allegations and any information submitted to it.
Jukes has denied wrongdoing and said he was stepping away from politics while seeking to clear his name. The BBC said it had approached Orr for comment.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage sought to distance the party from the conduct alleged in the report, saying the individuals involved were contractors who had made inappropriate remarks and had subsequently been removed from their positions.
Farage maintained that Reform UK had not broken electoral laws and had neither accepted nor received illicit funds.
Jukes is regarded as one of Farage’s closest political aides and has frequently been involved in arranging media appearances and managing access to the Reform UK leader.
Orr, a Cambridge academic who served as Reform UK’s head of policy, has also been regarded as part of Farage’s inner political circle.
The internal investigation is expected to determine whether any electoral rules were breached and whether the conduct captured in the undercover footage represents an official position or actions authorised by the party.
