By GLEN OWEN and GABRIEL MILLARD-CLOTHIER, POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: 00:14 BST, 6 September 2026 | Updated: 03:11 BST, 6 September 2026
Nigel Farage revealed that his family urged him to quit politics in the face of a barrage of questions about the legitimacy of donations to his party.
The Reform UK leader admitted that recent months had been 'difficult', saying: 'For the first time, really, in my political career, I haven't got my family's support. They would rather I packed it up and walked away.'
Mr Farage made his remarks after the start of his annual party conference in Birmingham was overshadowed by an undercover sting broadcast on Channel 4 which appeared to show senior aide Dan Jukes and Reform's head of policy James Orr suggesting a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations – one of which would have totalled £500,000.
The aides have both stood down pending the outcome of an internal probe into the claims. Reform denies any wrongdoing and say the party has taken no illegal money.
There is also an ongoing Commons standards investigation into a £5million donation to Reform from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Mr Farage told the BBC that despite his torrid few months, he had not been tempted to take the advice to resign, saying: 'When you've got your family begging you to, it's not easy. But I think we're through that now.
'I believe we're through that bad period. I think the general public do understand that I have got some unusual circumstances that others don't have to deal with.'
He added that he 'frankly wasn't even listening' when he met the fake donors in the undercover filming, saying: 'I was just there to come and say hello.'
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage spoke at the Reform UK annual conference in Birmingham
Mr Farage's partner Laure Ferrari is pictured watching his keynote speech at Reform's conference on Friday
Farage spoke with BBC's Laura Kuenssberg at the Reform UK's party conference
He criticised the suspended advisers, saying they 'should have done basic checks…nobody, nobody should be brought to me, unless they've been vetted'.
In a separate interview with GB News, Mr Farage said that the sting had been part of a co-ordinated attempt to target his party.
