Farage seeks to shore up damaged leadership as scandal engulfs Reform conference

Nigel Farage sought to shore up his damaged leadership on Friday as he attempted to distance himself from two of his most senior officials reported to the police for apparently plotting to evade the law on foreign donations.As the scandal engulfed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham, Farage was forced to suspend his closest aide, Dan Jukes, and head of policy, James Orr, after an undercover investigation by reporters from a group called Verbatim.He later acknowledged Jukes and Orr had made “human error” and were “not authorised” to act in the way they did when trying to orchestrate donations to benefit the party from a fake US businessman, who was not permitted to give money.Dan Jukes, left, speaks to Nigel Farage before an interview in Clacton-on-Sea in July 2024. Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersThe Met police are now assessing the evidence after a complaint that Farage, Orr and Jukes may have broken political funding laws, with sources suggesting a full investigation is highly likely to be launched. They all deny wrongdoing.Orr is an associate professor of divinity at the University of Cambridge who had been working for Reform, reporting directly to Farage, since February. In relation to the undercover footage of Orr, a spokesperson for the university said Cambridge was “looking into these matters”. Jukes is Farage’s closest aide who has been at his side for more than a decade working on communications and strategy.Farage had been introduced by Jukes to the would-be donor from the US promising to give £500,000 despite not being eligible, who was really an undercover reporter. The Reform leader then appeared to endorse the scheme for the impermissible US donor to give money through his son, a UK intermediary, by saying “thank you, both” and “all above board”.James Orr, right, takes part in a Turning Point USA debate in December last year. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/ReutersAfter dismissing the sting as a “hoax”, Reform began an organised campaign to limit the damage to Farage personally before his main conference speech, after a summer of scandals over his finances including an undeclared gift of £5m.Addressing the allegations, the Reform leader responded by reading out a legal statement in which he dismissed the allegations as “a little local difficulty” and described the reports as “an exercise in entrapment”.Farage claimed Orr and Jukes had merely been “contractors” who engaged in “loose pub talk, including a couple of boasts that simply were not true”. One party figure, Nadine Dorries, claimed Jukes had merely booked transport and carried bags, despite being a senior adviser integral to Reform’s operations and success for many years.When it was put to Farage that he had thanked the bogus donors and understood what was going on, he said: “It was the middle of the byelection. I was told I had to go and meet these people. I didn’t have to, but I did. I was told they had a global family trust headquartered in London. I asked the question: is this all above board?”Nigel Farage’s keynote speech was repeatedly interrupted by protesters on Friday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAThe Reform leader also insisted that the party’s internal processes would have stopped any impermissible donors and said neither Jukes nor Orr should have been carrying out fundraising. He said a suggestion by Jukes in the footage that other foreign donations had been channelled through UK intermediaries was not true and the donors did not exist.The pair were caught out after being filmed by undercover reporters from the group Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, and broadcast by Channel 4 News on the eve of Reform’s party conference.In the footage, Orr and Jukes appeared to help orchestrate an impermissible donation of £30,000 from the fake US donor which was used to pay for polling that would benefit Reform and made front pages of national newspapers. The money from an American company was transferred to the polling company JL Partners after being organised at the behest of Reform to boost its policies and political narrative. It was not declared to the Electoral Commission.Jukes went on to discuss whether the US businessman could give £500,000 through a UK intermediary, who was an undercover reporter, and introduced the would-be donors to Farage at a lunch in Clacton over oysters and champagne.The row comprehensively overshadowed the first full day of the party’s conference with every Reform politician repeatedly questioned over the scandal.It also exposed splits at the top of the party, with Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, strongly distancing himself from Jukes and Orr. He told reporters “anyone who supports Reform is disappointed”, and added of the investigation: “It’s just not something I am personally involved in.”He also launched a personal video about his backstory, leading to speculation he could attempt to run for the leadership as a rival to Robert Jenrick or Richard Tice if Farage were to be forced out over his financial scandals.However, some Reform insiders are convinced Farage will part company with Yusuf before long, partly over his ambition and combative style on social media, including one post on X that saw him accused of racism towards a Somalia-born Labour councillor. Farage is understood to have used a rude term about Yusuf recently in relation to his troublemaking on social media.One senior Reform figure said they believed Yusuf would have to go as a precondition for some sort of reconciliation with Rupert Lowe, whose party Restore Britain has eaten into the party’s voters on the hard right. Farage has recently condemned Lowe as vindictive but some of their friends believe a rapprochement could be possible if Yusuf were no longer in the party.Reform had wanted the main event to be Farage announcing a deal with the hard-right French National Rally president, Jordan Bardella, to return small boats crossing the Channel if both parties achieve power. However, a press conference was dominated by questions about the foreign donations scandal.National Rally ​party chief, Jordan Bardella, attends a joint press conference with Farage on Friday. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/ReutersFarage’s main speech was later delayed by security concerns after climate protesters disrupted Tice’s stage appearance – and more activists later repeatedly interrupted his address. While waiting to go on stage, the Reform leader danced and sung with the crowd.He began his speech by calling for Andy Burnham to hold a general election and accusing Labour of planning to put up taxes.Jukes issued a statement: “This was entrapment over a prolonged period of time by individuals using selective editing who had their own agenda to discredit Reform UK.”Orr said: “I have agreed to step down from my current role at Reform UK pending the outcome of the party’s internal investigation into the conduct of the program, with which I will cooperate fully.”The speech was light on policy but Farage at one point hinted he could look at the way judges are appointed in future – suggesting the party could look at a system of political appointments as is the case in the US.