The ITV Exposure documentary, which has been released in stages, has placed Reform UK under renewed scrutiny over the conduct of its candidates and officials. The latest footage includes an exchange in which a senior party official confronts Farage about his handling of a high-profile mayoral candidate alleged to have made racist slurs against David Lammy. The official is heard warning Farage that he was “protecting” the candidate.
Separately, Sarah Pochin, one of Reform’s two female MPs, is seen on film complaining that other party officials “are so fucking chauvinistic” and that “they just exclude you if you are a woman.” The documentary has also shown councillors and election candidates making threats of extreme violence and expressing racist and Islamophobic views.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson and MP for Newark, said: “He is the most heavily scrutinised figure in British politics, and he’s someone who’s probably done more than almost anybody else to stand against racism and the far right, and to protect our politics from that over the course of my lifetime.” Jenrick argued that the documentary had failed to damage Farage’s character, which he said was presumably the programme’s objective.
The controversy adds to ongoing questions about Reform UK’s candidate selection and internal culture as the party seeks to build on its electoral performance.