Farage senior aide filmed suggesting way to avoid donations law

Nigel Farage’s senior aide suggested a way to get around electoral law to secure a foreign donation of £500,000 for Reform UK, according to undercover filming broadcast by Channel 4.

Dan Jukes was filmed meeting a man posing as the British-based son of a rich American businessman.

Electoral law sets out that to be a permissible donor to a UK political party you must be a UK registered voter, or a company registered in the UK.

In this instance, the son would be a permissible donor, his father would not be.

The undercover filming was done by a group called Verbatim Investigations. Channel 4 News say they have verified the material they were given and chose to broadcast.

Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and claims to have “been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign funded climate change activists”.

The reporter posing as the son of the American donor is filmed raising a concern that his father wouldn’t be able to directly donate to the party within the law.

Filmed standing outside a pub in Westminster, Jukes said “you do realise that you can do it?”

Channel 4 say Jukes was suggesting that the donation could be in the UK-based son’s name, although the money would have come from his American father.

“Actually that does strike me as a solution,” Jukes continues.

He then claims they have done it several times before, in exchanges bleeped out but which appear to refer to other instances where this mechanism had been used before.

“That’s one of the ways in which we do it,” he is recorded as saying.

Reform UK have launched an internal investigation into Jukes. They would not confirm if he remained a party spokesperson.

Later, Channel 4 broadcast footage from a lunch in Clacton in Essex, with both the reporter posing as the UK based son, and another reporter – his supposed American father. Opposite them are both Dan Jukes and the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

Farage says “it’s all above board” after the son has told him he has been in discussions with both Jukes and Reform’s Head of Policy, James Orr about it for some time.

“I’ll be the registered donor,” the son says. “But then dad will send the money to me, and then as soon as that’s done and all those conversations are had the money is available.”

“Thank you. Well, both of you. Thank you,” Farage is heard saying.

Orr is also now the subject of an internal Reform UK investigation.

Earlier in Channel 4 News’s film, prior to the suggested half a million pound donation, Channel 4 says Orr suggests to the undercover reporter that perhaps his father could pay for opinion polling to aide Reform’s campaigning.

The poll would cost £18,000 plus VAT – and Orr suggests that perhaps the polling company could send the bill to the undercover reporter.

In all, Channel 4 News says Reform commissioned three polls costing £32,500 in total and that the public was not told who commissioned or funded them.

Not disclosing such funding would be illegal and accepting this kind of foreign funding would also be illegal.

A Reform spokesperson said: “Reform UK has been the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded, climate change activists posing as would-be party donors. The party denies any wrongdoing.

“Reform UK has a robust vetting processs for prospective donors approved by the Electoral Commission.

“The hoaxers are ‘Verbatim Investigations’; a new company, incorporated in July 2026 in an attempt to mask their true identity: the Center for Climate Reporting (CCR). The methods of its founder, Lawrence Carter, have previously been rebuked by members of the United States Congress for “videos [that] appear to be substantially edited, creating an incomplete record of the conversation.”

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “The law requires political parties to report all permissible donations they accept with a value over £11,180 and all impermissible donations over £500.

“Information about any potential attempt to evade the controls on donations is for the police to consider.”

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the BBC: “We’re aware of media reporting on Thursday, 3 September involving political party donations and an alleged breach of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 relating to polling. We will assess this matter and any information provided to us.”

It is understood the force has not begun an investigation.

Jukes has been approached for comment.

Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.