Democracy for Sale

“It worked, boom!” Nigel Farage talking to fake American donor in Clacton (Source: Verbatim.) I’ve become increasingly nauseous this summer as the series of Reform political finance scandals have unfolded, and was particularly shocked at the revelations in Channel 4 and Verbatim’s undercover investigation into Farage’s party.

Reform’s party conference opens in Birmingham this morning. There’ll be a lot of lobbyists there, and a lot of big business: Google, Vodafone, BT, JCB, Heathrow Airport, Dubai Port. One outfit that won’t be there is Democracy for Sale. Reform, you might have read in the Guardian, has banned me from the conference. I wasn’t planning to write about this. As a journalist I never want to be the story. But how it all happened feels like it should be talked about.

“I honestly don’t see why it’s anyone’s business” - Isabel Oakeshott on Farage’s £5m Isabel Oakeshott is one of Nigel Farage’s most vocal public cheerleaders. If she’s not talking up Reform’s election prospects, the Telegraph columnist is busy defending the party leader over criticisms of the £5m he received from Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Number 10 special advisor Varun Chandra accepted 47 paid meals and event invitations from corporates and lobbyists By Charles Ross and Peter Geoghegan Ministerial special advisers have accepted hospitality from companies, trade associations and lobbying firms with a direct interest in government policy on more than 700 occasions since Labour came to power in 2024, a Democracy for Sale investigation has found.

What a difference a week makes. Last Thursday, we launched a video series all about how the super-rich are buying UK democracy. We hoped to nudge the Labour government to live up to its manifesto promise to “strengthen the rules around donations to political parties”. Then, to my dismay, last night I read that Andy Burnham has dropped his support for a “political funding cap aimed at curbing mega-donors” in the upcoming elections bill.

A few weeks ago, I sat down to a family dinner in a brightly-lit restaurant on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. As the meal began, the table buzzed with chatter. Attentive waiting staff passed around plates of salad. But then something strange happened. Almost nobody touched their starters.

The idea that money buys influence in British politics is hardly new. Lloyd George was selling peerages a century ago. ‘Cash for access’ scandals long predate the digital age. But the sums involved today are on a different scale. When I first started reporting on dark money almost a decade ago, £50,000 could buy access to the ‘Leader’s Group’ of top Tory donors. Today, Britain’s wealthiest political donors give many times that.

By Daniel Tester, Peter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin A cross-party group of MPs and peers focused on Britain’s use of nuclear submarines to counter the military rise of China is run by a think tank funded by the Taiwanese government, Democracy for Sale can reveal. All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are not allowed to accept secretariat services “funded directly or indirectly by a foreign government”.

Back in May 2024, I asked a simple question on Democracy for Sale: “Richard Tice has given millions to keep Reform afloat - why?” The then Reform leader had loaned his party £1.08million, mostly through companies he controlled. During an interview for that piece, I asked Tice whether he expected to have to put more money into Reform before the then upcoming general election. At the time, Tice’s answer barely registered. This week, after reading on Reform’s finances, I went back to the recording.

By John Heathershaw A growing number of Britain’s top universities are trapped in a crisis which seems to have no end in sight. As funding shortfalls lead to staff cuts and strike action, morale is low and goodwill exhausted. Almost half of Britain’s universities are running a financial deficit, according to the Office for Students. Teaching staff — particularly those in the humanities — are losing their jobs across the country and fewer students are choosing to study.