Nigel Farage's keynote speech at the Reform UK party conference was delayed by more than an hour after security staff were reportedly seen searching underneath the stage, with party sources citing a "security scare" that they said had prompted counter-terror police to hold him back. The disruption capped a chaotic day for Reform, which was also grappling with allegations that it breached political donation rules, matters that could carry legal and reputational consequences for the party as it seeks to present itself as a credible party of government.

The donation row stemmed from a Channel 4 News investigation claiming Reform accepted funding from a US firm for three opinion polls, costing £32,500, commissioned earlier this year, in breach of electoral law barring impermissible overseas donors. Two senior officials, James Orr and Dan Jukes, stepped down as a result, and the party has launched an internal investigation; Farage dismissed the exposé, carried out by reporters from investigative group Verbatim posing as an American financier and his son, as "entrapment" driven by "far left activists", blaming "loose pub talk" by Jukes. Cambridge University said it was "looking into" the allegations against Orr, an associate professor there. When Farage eventually took the stage amid fireworks, he predicted a spring general election, branded Andy Burnham the "Messiah without a mandate", and vowed to sack any of his ministers who failed to deliver pledges within their first 100 days.