The report revealed Farage, who is set to deliver his main speech at Reform’s Birmingham conference on Friday afternoon following an appearance by his French political ally Jordan Bardella, meeting undercover reporters who posed as a wealthy U.S. supporter and his son, expressing gratitude for their support. Under British electoral law, a U.S. citizen is not an eligible donor.
Channel 4 News reported that the two men had already financed £32,500-worth of polling commissioned by Reform, with the results appearing in national newspapers without the party’s involvement being declared. This in-kind benefit was not reported to the Electoral Commission.
Labour, aiming to close a polling gap with Reform after a challenging two years in government, quickly responded to the Channel 4 report.
“We actually do have very tight rules around these things in this country for a reason, so that people have confidence in the electoral system and in our democracy,” Education Secretary Lucy Powell told Times Radio Friday morning. “But time and again, I think what we’re finding is Reform just think these rules don’t apply to them.”
Reform’s chairman, Lee Anderson, stated on Friday that Farage has no further questions to answer regarding the incident, though he admitted the controversy is a “distraction” as the party’s conference begins.
“The two people involved, they have gone. They have left the building,” he told Times Radio. “I keep saying this time and time again. They have gone. That is the right thing to do. They are not coming back and Nigel is going nowhere.”
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