Reform UK Invests Record Donations in Its Own TV Channel and Newsroom to Regain Ground in the Polls

London: Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has begun recruiting staff for a YouTube-based television channel, part of a broader media expansion funded by private donations that now exceed those of any major political party in Europe. Party officials say the venture is meant to let Reform communicate directly with voters and bypass established broadcasters, which it views as hostile.

The party has posted twelve media job advertisements as part of the effort. The channel is expected to start with a budget of more than £10 million and a team of around 25 journalists and editors, producing daily content such as interviews and documentaries that builds on Reform’s existing YouTube presence, which currently carries about eight posts a week. Officials have compared the format to Trump TV, the streaming service that airs content approved by the White House. Gawain Towler, a member of Reform’s governing board, said the expansion would also allow the party to train more of its figures for media appearances, easing pressure on its eight Members of Parliament.

The initiative is funded by £72 million (about $96 million) donated in September by two cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, each of whom has frontloaded a £36 million contribution ahead of the next general election, due by mid-2029. Party officials said roughly half of the sum will cover headquarters running costs until then, with the remainder supporting policy development, adviser recruitment, campaign operations and a newspaper with a planned first print run of 15 million copies. Both donors have said publicly that they expect nothing in return.

According to a Reuters analysis of European party accounts, Reform has raised £87 million from private donors so far this year, surpassing the previous European record of £86.3 million set by Germany’s Christian Democratic Union in 2024.

The spending push comes after a difficult period for the party. Reform has lost its lead in opinion polls to Labour, now led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and the Conservatives, following weeks of negative coverage over its funding and over racist, violent and sexist remarks by some of its candidates and councillors that were exposed in a broadcast investigation. The party also faces police and parliamentary inquiries into earlier funding, including a previous £5 million gift to Farage from Harborne. Reform has said an internal review found no breach of electoral law by two officials filmed allegedly seeking donations from a foreign-based businessman.

The size of the donations has prompted calls for tighter regulation. The Labour government announced in March a £100,000 cap on gifts from British donors living abroad and has signalled it may apply rule changes retrospectively, which could make the recent Harborne and Delo donations ineligible. Reform officials have said they would contest any such move, potentially in court. Fernando Casal Bertoa, an associate professor of politics at the University of Nottingham, warned that British politics was drifting towards an American-style funding model in which large donors may expect favours in return.

Reform officials, meanwhile, argue that the funds simply level the playing field with Britain’s long-established parties. Towler described the party’s position as a massive game of catch-up.