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🇬🇷 Greece /Elections & Politics

Britain: New funding scandal shakes Reform UK

From Kathimerini · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Reform UK leader Nigel Farage denied allegations that party officials discussed bypassing British electoral law to receive a £500,000 donation from a U.S. citizen.
  • Two party officials resigned after a Channel 4 undercover report, while police investigate the sources of Reform UK funding and Farage faces scrutiny over a separate £5 million donation.
  • At its Birmingham conference, Reform UK signed an agreement with France’s National Rally and presented measures it would pursue during its first 100 days in government.

Nigel Farage has rejected fresh allegations of irregularities in Reform UK’s finances, as a funding controversy continues to unsettle Britain’s anti-immigration party.

Farage appeared at the party’s conference in Birmingham alongside Jordan Bardella, president of France’s far-right National Rally. Bardella promised that, if his party wins the 2027 election, he would do everything possible to ensure France was no longer the entry point for irregular migrants travelling to the United Kingdom. He and Farage also signed a “protocol of agreement” on the conference stage.

The funding dispute intensified after Channel 4 broadcast an undercover report showing a close Farage associate allegedly proposing a way around the law to secure a £500,000 donation from an American citizen. In Britain, only British voters may donate to political parties. Farage’s associate Dan Jukes and another party official, James Orr, resigned after the revelations, pending Reform UK’s internal investigation.

He will do everything in his power so that France is no longer the gateway for illegal migrants to the United Kingdom.

· Jordan BardellaBardella made the pledge while appearing at Reform UK’s Birmingham conference.

Channel 4 also suggested that the two officials may have breached electoral law by paying a foreign company to conduct opinion polls, an allegation Farage denies. He acknowledged that such “coffee-shop conversations” should never have taken place, but insisted that Reform UK had broken no laws and accepted no money from suspicious sources.

The controversy follows a parliamentary inquiry into Farage over his failure to declare a £5 million donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before Farage was elected as an MP in 2024. Police are also examining Reform UK’s funding sources. Recent polls have put Labour ahead of Reform UK after Andy Burnham became prime minister, while an Ipsos survey found that two in three Britons believe Farage is not ready to become prime minister. Reform UK used its conference to outline its first-100-days priorities, led by stopping boats carrying irregular migrants from France.

The party did not break any law and did not receive money from suspicious sources.

· Nigel FarageFarage defended Reform UK after the undercover report and funding allegations.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathimerini in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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