The Metropolitan Police in London on Wednesday said they had opened a criminal investigation into claims that Reform U.K., the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, had broken laws that restrict foreign funding in British politics.
The move will add to scrutiny of Mr. Farage, an ally of President Trump’s and an architect of Brexit, who has faced intensifying questions in recent months about his personal finances and the funding of his anti-immigration party.
The latest accusations relate to an undercover investigation broadcast last week by Channel 4 News, which appeared to show two close aides to Mr. Farage arranging secret financial contributions from a man they believed to be a foreign donor.
British law requires all donations to be disclosed and prohibits political contributions from foreign individuals.
Another part of the investigation showed Mr. Farage thanking an undercover journalist and an actor, both posing as potential donors who had paid for opinion polling that proved helpful for Reform’s campaigning, and which the footage suggested had been discussed with Reform officials. The polls were published in British newspapers without transparency about who had paid for or commissioned them. At one point in the footage, the actor pretending to be an American supporter of Reform said: “I run an American family office, and I haven’t been able to donate directly. But I was thrilled to pick up the tab for the polls.”
Mr. Farage replied, “Yeah, that was great.”
In accordance with British procedure, the Metropolitan Police did not name Reform U.K. in their statement, but did refer to the Channel 4 News broadcast.
“Following a broadcast by Channel 4 News on Thursday, 3 September, the Met received a number of reports relating to donations and polling involving a political party,” the statement said. “Detectives have assessed the information provided and determined that there are potential offenses requiring investigation.”
It added that the accusations were “similar in nature” to matters the police were already investigating, “relating to donations made to the same political party,” and said the new potential offenses would form part of that investigation.
That appeared to be a reference to the police’s ongoing inquiry into two donations to Reform of 250,000 pounds each (about $670,000 in total) that were given to the party by Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, a close ally of Mr. Farage’s who is nicknamed “Posh George.” Two people have been questioned as part of that investigation, but no arrests have been made.
Reform U.K. did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told the BBC in a statement that it “denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation.”
Channel 4 News said that Verbatim, an investigative group founded by journalists from the nonprofit Center for Climate Reporting, conducted the undercover filming that was broadcast on Sept. 3.
Reform has denied breaking any law, said it did not commission the polls discussed in the undercover investigation, and accused the broadcaster of a politically motivated hit job. It suspended the two aides seen in the video footage, James Orr and Dan Jukes, however, pending an internal investigation.
In a BBC interview on Sunday, Mr. Farage described the comments made by Mr. Orr and Mr. Jukes in the undercover footage as “injudicious at best,” saying that was why they had been suspended. As for his role and the moment when he thanked the men posing as donors, he said he was “not a compliance officer” and had been in the middle of campaigning, adding, “I turn up; I frankly wasn’t even listening.”
Reform U.K. led national opinion polls for more than a year until recently, when its position dipped to around 23 percent, slightly lower than the governing Labour Party, which installed Andy Burnham as its new leader and Britain’s prime minister in July.
Last week, Reform held its annual conference, but much of the event was overshadowed by the fallout from the Channel 4 broadcast.
Mr. Farage is separately being investigated by an official watchdog over claims that he broke parliamentary rules by failing to declare a gift of £5 million, about $6.7 million, from a British crypto billionaire based in Thailand.
Mr. Farage has said he was under no obligation to declare the money because it was a personal gift he had received in the months before his successful 2024 bid for Parliament.
But his opponents argue that the gift, which came from Christopher Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor and supporter of Reform U.K., should have been declared after Mr. Farage’s election.
Amid the intense scrutiny over the issue, Mr. Farage resigned his parliamentary seat in Clacton, England, and initiated a special election that the other main political parties boycotted. After he won that contest and returned to parliament, the parliamentary investigation resumed.
In a statement about the new police investigation, Channel 4 News said it had nothing to add to a previous comment that it stood by the “public interest journalism in this investigation, which has been rigorously verified to ensure accuracy,” and encouraged viewers to watch it in full.
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