Reform UK officials quit after foreign donation scandal

Reform UK officials have quit their posts after a fresh scandal involving party funding hit the far-right group. James Orr and Dan Jukes announced on Friday that they would step down. This move came right after Channel 4 News aired an investigative documentary claiming the pair arranged for an overseas company to pay for polling. The party, which has lost support due to repeated reports about breaking donation rules, confirmed it would start a probe into these new claims.

The undercover sting by Channel 4 suggested that Reform UK officials broke election laws by bringing in cash from abroad. In the footage, Jukes is pictured advising an undercover reporter on how to dodge electoral statutes while making foreign donations. Meanwhile, party leader Nigel Farage sat at the table and insisted everything remained "above board" as the reporter mentioned ongoing talks with Orr.

The departures of long-time aide Jukes and head of policy Orr landed just before the annual conference. Farage has faced constant questions recently about money he took personally and what came through Reform. On Friday, during a radio interview, he stated the party had "broken no laws." He added that "entrapped conversations don't look good," which is why they launched an internal investigation.

A spokesperson for London's Met Police said it was aware of media reports involving political donations and possible breaches of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 concerning polling costs. Both the ruling Labour Party and the opposition Liberal Democrats reported Reform to police after the story broke. The anti-immigration party first called these revelations a "hoax." Farage tried to push back by accusing other parties of selling peerages. He argued that while all sorts of wrong things have happened in political funding over decades, his group did nothing wrong. A couple of their contractors just said things they should not have said.

The biggest blow for Reform recently involved an undeclared personal gift of 5 million pounds to Farage from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Criminal and parliamentary investigations into those donations are still ongoing. Harborne has given the party more than 25 million pounds in total. All eyes are on Tether, the cryptocurrency linked to drug cartels, fraud, and human trafficking.

Farage grabbed international headlines by resigning his seat to force a by-election where he framed himself as taking on "the establishment." Major parties dismissed the move as a stunt and refused to field candidates. The populist leader won comfortably, though the nearly 10,000 votes cast for his closest rival, Count Binface, showed clear opposition.