Two Reform UK officials have stepped down after an undercover sting operation raised questions over foreign donations, according to Lee Anderson.

The party chair told Sky News that Reform’s head of policy James Orr and Nigel Farage’s close aide Dan Jukes have both quit following an explosive report from Verbatim.

As first reported by Channel 4 News, Farage’s party took funding from a US company to commission three supposedly independent polls at £32,500 earlier this year.

Orr and Jukes organised the donation. They were not aware the donors were actually undercover reporters from the investigative group Verbatim.

The reporters, posing as an American father and his British son “William Lockwood”, also suggested donating £500,000 to Reform UK.

British electoral law says political donations can only be made by someone eligible to vote in the UK or a UK-registered company.

The party denied any wrongdoing and called the whole operation a “hoax” on Thursday night.

The incident has been reported to the Metropolitan Police who are assessing the reports.

Anderson told Sky News: “The two men involved, James Orr and Dan Jukes, they’ve stepped down from their roles, they’ve stepped away. It’s only fair now we launch a full internal investigation.”

He said the party would remain “fair, open and transparent” while looking into what happened.

“It’s right to get rid of this distraction straight away,” Anderson added, as Reform prepares to open its annual party conference in Birmingham today.

He added that there was “no chance” of the two men coming back as Reform is a “serious party”.

Bizarrely, Reform’s deputy party leader Richard Tice was much less certain about their future, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Let’s wait and see. It’s not for any individual to make that determination until the investigation.”

When asked if more senior staff, such as party leader Farage, should take responsibility, Anderson told Sky it “wouldn’t be fair” for him to comment until “the investigation is completely over”.

However, the party chair was unable to say who is leading the internal probe when speaking to other broadcasters.

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