Police assess claims Reform overspent on Farage election campaign

Essex Police are assessing allegations that Reform UK overspent on Nigel Farage’s general election campaign in Clacton last year.

The claims have been made by a former Reform councillor, who the party said was expelled several months ago.

Richard Everett, a former member of Farage’s campaign team, told the Daily Telegraph he believes Reform exceeded the £20,660 spending limit set by electoral law in the Essex constituency and failed to declare some costs, although he said Farage was “blissfully unaware” of the omissions.

A Reform spokesperson denied the party had broken electoral law, saying the “inaccurate claims come from a disgruntled former councillor”.

In a statement, Essex Police said: “We are assessing a report relating to alleged misreported expenditure by a political party in connection with the 2024 general election, following a referral to us by the Met Police.”

Farage took over as leader of Reform UK in June 2024, around a month before the general election.

He won the seat of Clacton in Essex from the Conservatives with a majority of more than 8,000.