2 Reform UK advisers to Farage step down amid donation scandal

Britain’s populist Reform UK said two senior advisers to leader Nigel Farage stepped down on Friday after an undercover investigation alleged the party had broken electoral law by arranging for a foreign donor to pay for political polling.

Reform denied any wrongdoing and said it had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by climate activists.

The governing Labour Party wrote to the police asking them to investigate possible criminal offences, including an alleged proposal to channel a larger overseas donation through a ‌UK intermediary.

The investigation, broadcast by Channel 4 just as Reform’s annual conference opened to the public, said two senior figures in Reform had arranged for a US company to pay more than £30,000 (US$40,586) for three opinion polls commissioned by the party.

Such an arrangement could breach British laws on political funding, which ban foreign donations.

Posing as wealthy donors from the United States with British connections, the undercover team from an investigative group called Verbatim said it spent a year speaking to top officials in Reform about possible donations, culminating in a lunch with Farage.