Reform UK conference latest: Nigel Farage attempts to reverse sliding poll ratings as donation row rumbles on

Farage warned he could face stiffer penalty after claiming probe into £5m crypto donation is rigged

Nigel Farage has been warned that he could receive a “stiffer penalty” after he claimed that the result of an inquiry into his undeclared £5m donation from a crypto billionaire is rigged against him.

The leader of Reform UK has just returned to parliament after winning a by-election he called in his Clacton constituency in protest at the Commons’ standards inquiry against him over the donation from Christopher Harborne.

He suggested to the BBC that he would not get a fair hearing on whether he broke parliamentary rules for failing to declare the cash, because the MPs on the committee have already prejudged him as guilty.

He told the BBC: “Well, I mean, that investigation, the outcome. Have you seen who is on the committee? I think we know the outcome already.”

But former Labour deputy leader Baroness Harriet Harman, who chaired the Privileges Committee inquiry into the Boris Johnson Partygate scandal where the former prime minister received a stiffer penalty for his attacks on the process, warned Mr Farage could face the same fate, if he is found to have breached the rules.

Harriette Boucher3 September 2026 08:25

Farage looks to play down donations as party conference begins

Nigel Farage will use his party’s conference to try and shake off scrutiny surrounding undeclared donations to Reform and reverse sliding poll ratings.

The party’s largest annual conference is kicking off in Birmingham on Thursday and comes just two days after the leader was sworn in after being re-elected as Clacton MP.

His return to parliament has reopened the probe into his undeclared £5M resignation from Christopher Harborne.

It also comes as Reform slid into third place in the opinion polls in its lowest performance in 18 months.