Police are likely to examine the mobile phones of Reform figures as part of an investigation into allegations the party broke the law on foreign donations, The i Paper has been told.
Bob Posner, a former chief executive of the electoral watchdog, said officers could even raid the party’s headquarters to “seize documents and computers”.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating Reform after an undercover film by Channel 4 and the investigative outfit Verbatim appeared to show senior party figures welcoming foreign donations.
The allegations have become part of Scotland Yard’s wider investigation into other donations to the party.
Foreign political donations are banned in the UK, and it is illegal to conceal that funds have come from an impermissible source.
Reform deny any wrongdoing, as does Farage, who has said he “frankly wasn’t listening” during a conversation with his aide Dan Jukes and an undercover reporter discussing an apparent scheme to funnel foreign money to the party.
Posner was chief executive of the Electoral Commission between 2019 and 2022 and is now a consultant at the law firm Bates Wells, which specialises in electoral law.
“[The police] will liaise closely with the Electoral Commission,” he told The i Paper, explaining that detectives were unlikely to share details of the investigation but may consult the watchdog on points of law.
“I would expect that they [the police] will interview, probably under caution, a number of people. Perhaps some not under caution,” Posner said.
“There’ll be documents to look at, obviously.”
Police would likely want to examine the mobile phones of Reform figures because “so much is done now over those systems”, he said.
Posner added that it would be a “judgement call” whether officers decided to raid Reform’s headquarters.
“If they thought there was a risk to relevant evidence, then they would want to consider seizing documents and computers,” he said.
“If, on the other hand, they thought they were getting full and proper cooperation, then they would be talking with the parties, the individuals, asking for stuff and looking at it. That’s their call.”
A Reform spokesperson referred The i Paper to the party’s original statement on the investigation, which said: “Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation. We won’t be commenting further while a live investigation is underway.”
Asked about the likely timeline for the investigation, Posner said: “You’ve got to be talking in months. It’s just how many months, isn’t it?”
Some Reform figures have welcomed the investigation as an opportunity for the party to clear its name.
Nadine Dorries, one of the first ex-Conservative ministers to defect to Reform in 2025, told The i Paper: “I’m glad it’s happened, because I don’t think anybody is going to believe that no money has come into Reform’s accounts, no donations were made, no polls were commissioned [until the police investigate it]. I don’t believe anyone else is going to believe that, or we can clear our name, until the police do it.”
The sting led to two figures at the heart of Reform’s operation – Farage’s long-standing aide Jukes, and head of policy James Orr – standing down pending the outcome of the party’s own investigation. Jukes has said he was the victim of “entrapment”.
Reform’s former head of policy James Orr also stepped back from his role following the undercover sting (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty)The saga has raised questions about Reform’s internal structures and processes, with Farage saying last week that Jukes and Orr “are not even part of our fundraising team” and “should have gone through the appropriate channels”.
However, Dorries said the party’s processes are already “really robust”. “That’s how I know we’ve never taken any foreign money. We’ve turned away many donations.”
Some Reform insiders have said the incident shows the need for “seasoned” political professionals around Farage, which Dorries said was “fair comment”.
The former Tory Cabinet minister said the Reform leader had been “working hard to professionalise the party”, and that it is the “one thing he’s been overly concerned about”.
She added: “That is work in progress… it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Data exclusively shared with The i Paper gives insight into how last week’s Reform conference was dominated by the Channel 4 allegations. Analysis by Knox Digital found the row generated 2,749 posts on X and 40.7 million views, dwarfing other conference stories, including Nigel Farage’s deal with Jordan Bardella’s National Rally party. Posts about that agreement generated just 214 tweets and 3.1 million views.
Overall, 38.2 per cent of views of Reform-related content on X during the conference period were linked to the donations story, while 27 per cent of all posts mentioned the controversy.
The data also suggests a shift in Reform’s social media reach. Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf overtook Farage on TikTok in August, posting 124 times to Farage’s 10 and generating 11.4 million views compared with 1.4 million by Farage. Farage’s average views per post fell from 634,819 in June to 136,854 in August.
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