Has Reform’s spell finally been broken?

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• Two senior members of Reform UK have been suspended after a Channel 4 investigation found new evidence of dubious financial activity within the party. Nigel Farage says he, and Reform, has done nothing wrong.
• Its supporters agree, with attendees at its 2026 conference blaming “stupid lefties” for uncovering evidence about donations and funding for Farage.
• Lewis Goodall says that after months of gradual decline for the party, as its poll lead has slipped and it has been dogged by critical headlines, this is a sudden acceleration in the Reform slump.

Nigel Farage is fighting the biggest political battle of his career.

It’s not against the Labour government, it’s not against the Tories, it’s not even against Rupert Lowe and Restore Britain. It’s against one simple word: corruption.

An undercover report by Channel 4 News, in association with investigative journalists known as Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, exposed plans to channel £500,000 from the US into the party, as well as using overseas money to fund three poll.

These were reported as news in The Telegraph and The Times, carried out on behalf of Reform, but presented by the party as impartial voting intention.

Reform claims to have broken no laws and says it has done nothing wrong, but two senior Reform officials (PR consultant Dan Jukes and Reform head of policy James Orr)  have stepped down from their roles since this activity was exposed.

“The party has broken no laws. The party has not taken any dodgy money or anything like that", Nigel Farage told LBC.

"This is a massive sting operation. It must have cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, all foreign funded, by the way.

"We talk about foreign money interfering in British politics. Well, that's exactly what this was in every way. And they worked at it and worked at it."

Farage also referred to Jukes and Orr as "contractors" for the party. Its MPs have said the Channel 4 investigation is a “hit job” by “climate activists”.

‘This country is full of sad, stupid lefties’

Reform supporters at the party conference told Lewis they were unaware of new allegations, and said he was the "last chance for the country".

"This country is full of sad, stupid lefties and people trying to take over," said one man, dressed as 12th century English king, Richard the Lionheart.

Another attendee, wearing a Union Jack cape and St George flags on her head, said she backed Reform because it was led by "normal people".

"They've worked hard. A lot of them have had businesses, and I truly believe you need to have run a business to run the country, and most of those guys have.

"The current government; they've come out straight out of university, straight into being an MP or worked for the civil service in between."

She says the Channel 4 investigation is an example of "the leftists" wanting to get Farage into trouble.

Other claims made by Reform supporters include statements that Britain was at its best when it was being bombed by the Nazis in World War II, and that all politicians are engaged in "dodgy deals", so Farage's finances are of no concern to them.

Can Reform blame its political ‘youth’ for its mistakes?

Arron Banks, long-time associate of Nigel Farage and a donor to his previous parties UKIP and The Brexit Party, tells Lewis the Channel 4 investigation is a "storm in a teacup".

"This party's 18 months old, it's a bit like an adolescent in some ways, and it's growing up very quickly," Banks says.

"Every single party over the last 30 years has had issues like this.

"After winning in the local election hands down, and it's absolutely clear that scared the living daylights out of the media and the other parties."

He admits "the optics" of the Channel 4 investigation are "maybe not so great", but believes "the public don't give a rat's ass about it."

Westminster certainly does, with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats reporting Reform UK to the Metropolitan Police.

"I don't think there will be, but if they want to investigate it, I mean, investigations are the flavour of the month at the moment, aren't they?" Banks adds.

No investigation has been opened, but Met Police has said it will "assess" the situation.

‘The Reform spell is broken’

Lewis Goodall says in recent months, with previous donation scandals, the UK has been witness to the gradual decline of Farage's standing with the public, and Reform's popularity.

This time, that downfall feels accelerated.

"Reform was enjoying popularity and media attention, but any recovery by Kemi Badenoch, or Labour, as we’re now seeing, and it slips away so quickly,” Lewis says.

“The magician’s spell is broken and the story changed.

"The media gets bored. Farage knew this was a risk. It’s what’s happened."

The polls commissioned by Reform were its attempt to keep its sense of insurgency on the lips of the right-wing media, and voters in the UK.

"It needs polling, it needs stories to show that the rise is relentless," Lewis adds.

"Those polls wouldn't have achieved the attention they got if it was known Reform had funded them, whether that was the motivation here or not."

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