Party sources claim the bills were racked up by someone who has now left Reform
Reform UK spent £350 on a bottle of champagne at a luxury lunch and a £989-a-night hotel with hundreds of pounds in room service, its election campaign spending data has revealed.
According to the Guardian, during one £1,703 lunch at the Shard restaurant in May 2024, about four diners enjoyed set-course meals, the £352 magnum of champagne, another £155 bottle of Veuve Clicquot, three cocktails at £19.50 each, two £18 wines, a £24 gin and tonic, and an 18-year-old Glenfiddich whisky at £31.
Electoral Commission election spending figures revealed that at a lunch in June 2024, Reform spent £1,368 on a night at Sea Containers, a five-star hotel on the South Bank in London. This figure included £205 on room service and the minibar, and £99 on dinner.
When asked if members would be happy to see their subscriptions spent on such luxuries, party sources said the expenses were not claimed by Nigel Farage or Reform’s chair, David Bull, “or any other senior figures” but by someone who has now left the party.
Reform was also billed more than £200,000 in the run-up to the election for services provided by a company co-owned by Bull, Oak Hall Studios.
Bull’s company claims to run “one of the UK’s most advanced television studios”. The former broadcaster’s company also invoiced Reform £8,000 for consultancy services and £1,000 per month for strategy and campaigning advice.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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