Senior aides to U.K.’s Nigel Farage step down in donation scandal where reporter posed as wealthy American’s son

September 4, 2026 / 5:26 PM EDT / CBS News

Two senior aides to Nigel Farage, the firebrand leader of the U.K.'s populist Reform party, have stepped down after the party was accused of breaking British electoral law concerning foreign funding in the wake of an investigative news report where a journalist posed as a wealthy American's son who wanted to donate to the party.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the party said it was launching an internal probe after the report aired on Britain's Channel 4 news late Thursday. Two Reform party officials, James Orr and Dan Jukes, have left their positions pending the outcome of that investigation, the spokesperson said.

"The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing," the spokesperson said.

Jukes is widely regarded as Farage's right-hand man, with an "innate sense of his boss' instinct," according to CBS News' partner network BBC News. Orr, an influential figure in the British national conservative movement, served as Reform's head of policy until his resignation. He is a theologian and associate professor of the philosophy of religion at…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/