REFORM members have been greeted to the party’s conference in Birmingham by protesters highlighting Nigel Farage’s “dodgy money”.
Activists unfurled a banner at the city’s New Street station on Thursday as members began to arrive.
The banner read: “Resist Reform.” Adverts put up around the city have also highlighted crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne’s £5 million donation to Reform while another, featuring a picture of Farage, reads: “You can’t keep running from your dodgy money.”
The protests came before it was alleged in an undercover sting documentary that Reform breached donations rules by accepting funding from a US firm for three polls it commissioned earlier this year, costing £32,500.
The “donors” were in fact reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his UK-based son.
James Orr and Dan Jukes, two of Farage’s key aides, have stepped down in light of the findings of the documentary and Reform have been reported to police over the claims.
It is the latest headache related to donations for Farage’s party and he still faces questions over his failure to report the £5m donation from Harborne as well as controversy over support from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster.
Cottrell, known as Posh George in Reform circles, provided Farage with benefits including funding staff to work on his social media and providing him use of a property he rents near Buckingham Palace before the last General Election. Farage failed to declare the support.
Reform UK also accepted £4m in donations in quarter two of 2026 from convicted criminal Ben Delo.
Sam Simons, a campaigner from Climate Resistance, said: “Farage's dodgy funding has been exposed. Farage and Reform UK aren't working for us, they are corrupted by the same people that got us into this mess.
“When faced with a nation-wide housing crisis, a crumbling NHS, and the increasingly unaffordable cost of living, they don’t offer new solutions that benefit the people of this country. They are only creating chaos in our communities.
“Reform claims to fight the establishment, but Farage and his cronies are the establishment. We want them to hear our message loud and clear – they are not welcome in Birmingham, or in British politics.”
Reform’s two-day conference in Birmingham kicked off on Friday, and Farage is slated to deliver two lengthy speeches on each day. Both days feature a two-hour break for lunch.
Responding to the controversy over the sting operation, a Reform spokesperson said: “Reform UK has launched an investigation following the broadcast of a Channel 4 News programme.
“Both individuals involved have stepped down from their respective positions pending the outcome of the investigation.
“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 party had earlier dismissed Verbatim, the outfit behind the investigation which was founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, as “hoaxers”.
