Nigel Farage's long-serving former aide Dan Jukes told an undercover reporter that the Reform UK leader's description of a £5m gift as a reward for Brexit campaigning was not the line his press office wanted, according to covert footage reported by The Guardian and the Mirror on Monday.
The recording was made by the investigative group Verbatim, which filmed Mr Jukes talking to a reporter posing as a donor. The Guardian said it had seen the footage. The Mirror reported that when the reporter asked whether Mr Farage had changed his account of the gift on purpose, Mr Jukes replied: "No... it was not deliberate."
The exchange matters because Mr Farage is under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over an alleged failure to declare the £5m, which he received from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before the 2024 general election. The purpose of the money, and when it arrived, are central to that inquiry.
Mr Farage has given more than one explanation. On 14 May 2026 he told The Sun that the money had been given unconditionally as a reward for 27 years of campaigning for Brexit. His position both before and since has been that the gift was to pay for his security for the rest of his life, which is also how Mr Harborne has described it.
In the footage, Mr Jukes said the current line was that the money was a thank-you for Brexit to pay for security so that Mr Farage would be safe for life, the two newspapers reported. After the reporter remarked that the episode seemed to have been quite tough, the Mirror reported him saying: "I'm a realist and I bat straight and it's a little bit awkward."
The Guardian also reported Mr Jukes saying that the prospect of Mr Farage profiting from politics was "priced in" with voters.
A spokesman for Mr Farage said: "The transcript you're referring to accurately describes that the gift was for his security for the rest of his life."
That response addresses the security explanation but does not dispute that Mr Jukes described the May 2026 Brexit comment as a departure from the press office line. Mr Jukes has not commented publicly on the recording.
Mr Jukes worked with Mr Farage for more than a decade and was described by The Guardian last year as his director of communications. He stepped down in September after appearing in a separate Verbatim investigation, broadcast by Channel 4 News, concerning alleged breaches of donation rules. Reform's head of policy, James Orr, stepped down at the same time.
The timing of the £5m is itself contested. Lawyers for Mr Harborne have said the gift was made on 5 April 2024, that he expected nothing in return and that he did not anticipate Mr Farage returning to frontline politics. The Guardian has reported, citing financial industry sources, that some of the funds did not arrive until late May 2024. Mr Farage announced on 3 June 2024 that he would stand as an MP.
Mr Farage has said it is nobody's business how he spends the money, telling interviewers in June that he could spend it on Ferraris or on betting on horseracing if he chose. He has declined to say how much has gone on security.
The Guardian first reported the existence of the gift. No wrongdoing has been alleged against Mr Harborne.
The Standards Commissioner's inquiry is continuing. Mr Farage told the Sunday Times earlier this month that he had been interviewed as part of it.
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