Two senior aides to Nigel Farage have left their positions at Reform UK while the party conducts an internal investigation, a spokesperson confirmed. James Orr and Dan Jukes stepped down pending the outcome of inquiries into allegations that they violated political donation regulations.
The scrutiny follows a broadcast by Channel 4 News, which alleged that the pair breached donation rules by having polling conducted through an overseas company. Reform UK stated that the decision for Orr and Jukes to resign is temporary, lasting only until the investigation concludes.
This looks bad for Reform. If polling was routed overseas to hide donor identity, that’s a serious breach of electoral law.
I’m surprised this came out now. Farage always claimed his operation was strictly above board. Who else knew?
Resigned pending investigation? That’s just jargon for ‘fired but we don’t want to admit it yet.’ Classic political damage control.
Does this mean the next big donation story will also involve a suspiciously efficient overseas consultancy?