Police are investigating a political donation made to Robert Jenrick’s campaign to become Conservative leader, The i Paper can reveal.
The Metropolitan Police has been examining claims that a £37,500 donation originated from a foreign donor, following a referral from the Electoral Commission.
The force has now launched an investigation into the allegations. Jenrick has repeatedly denied breaking any electoral laws.
It is illegal to accept political donations from foreign sources under UK electoral law. Scotland Yard did not state which individuals are under investigation.
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Trump says ceasefire with ‘cuckoo’ Iran is over – what happens now?
The US President said the ceasefire with Iran is over after the two countries traded strikes overnight. Donald Trump said it was “a waste of time” dealing with the Iranians – calling them “sick people” and “cuckoo”.
Donald Trump has come out swinging at the Nato summit in Ankara, with the Tehran regime and Sir Keir Starmer both on his target list (Photo: Filip Singer/AFP)
What you need to know
An aerial image of the latest US strikes on Iran. (Picture: Handout/Reuters)
US strikes
US forces launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets in response to the targeting of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran fires back
Iran said it had retaliated with strikes against targets in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The war in the Middle East has sent energy costs spiralling, with strikes on oil and gas facilities such as this Iranian drone attack in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, pushing up wholesale prices (Photo: AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
Caption: FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. To match Exclusive OPEC-OIL/ REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo/File Photo
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Oil license pulled
The strikes came after Washington also pulled Tehran’s license to sell oil – issued after the interim ceasefire deal.
What Trump said
I don’t want to deal with them any more – they’re scum.
Speaking at the Nato summit in Turkey, Trump told the media: “I think it [the ceasefire deal] is over.”
He said the Iranians were “led by sick people and they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it.”
Caption: ANKARA, TURKIYE – JULY 8: US President Donald Trump attends the North Atlantic Council meeting held as part of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Photographer: Anadolu
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How did Nato respond?
Sitting alongside Trump, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte told him: “I think what you did last night was absolutely necessary.”
Rutte said the US response was needed because “Iran is basically violating the ceasefire” by targeting tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump berated Iran’s leaders during a press conference with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte in Ankara (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
WORLD
4 min read
What happens next
The initial ceasefire deal reached only secure toll-free passage of the Strait for 60 days, pending the outcome of a final agreement on Iran’s disputed nuclear plans.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson urged the sides to “get back to focusing on the talks”.
Analysis
3 min read
NEWS
1 min read
HEATWAVE
The much cheaper alternatives to aircon
Caption: Tired exhausted young woman sitting on floor in front of electric fan, cooling down refreshing during heatwave. Summer heat, Air Conditioner Problems
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Source: Moment RF
Fans use up to 50 times less electricity than built-in air conditioning, say experts who advise that they remain a good option for those trying keeping cool in the heat.
The benefits of fan usage
(Photo: Petra Richli/Getty).
Price is right
The cheapest way to keep cool is to buy a fan. These can cost as little as around £20.
Low energy use
They only cost between 15p and 31p to run over a 24-hour period – less than daily aircon costs of between £4.84 and £6.00.
If your room temperature has not crossed 35°C, experts are clear that fans are a very cost-effective way to keep cool (Photo: Maria Korneeva/Getty)
Use a fan to stay cool (Photo: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty/Moment RF)
Low CO2 emissions
Their low energy use also means they produce minimal CO2 emissions, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
Fans vs aircon
Fans don’t lower the room temperature. But they help keep your body temperature down by creating air movement that helps sweat to evaporate.
The effect of a fan is intensified if you wet your skin, which mimics the powerful cooling effect of sweat evaporation, without the dehydration of using our own sweat.
Air con units mounted on apartment blocks can be considered an eye sore by some (Photo: David Taljat/Getty)
Suffering from summer heat at home, exhausted young woman sitting near electric fan enjoying fresh air, cooling down during heatwave – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
‘Humid heat is harder heat,’ one expert says (Photo: Getty)
READ THE FULL STORY
Why it’s worth looking at aircon alternatives
Given that most of us live in homes not fit for heatwaves, it’s worth exploring the best options for keeping cool and what different devices cost.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Sacha Baron Cohen completes filming for new Ali G movie
The comedian has finished a new film based on the streetwise, shellsuit-wearing character which made him famous.
What you need to know
Caption: ALI G INDAHOUSE – Ali G unwittingly becomes a pawn in the Chancellor’s plot to overthrow the Prime Minister of Great Britain. However, Ali is embraced by the nation as a voice of the youth, making the PM and his government more popular than ever. BSkyB SEAC
Film still
Copyright: ? 2002 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Ali G, a wannabe gangster rapper from west Staines, first appeared as a character on The 11 O’Clock Show.
A new movie has reportedly completed production, filming in Oxfordshire and the US.
It is the first film with the character since Ali G Indahouse in 2002.
FILM
4 min read
Ali G’s famous victims
Some of the famous people interviewed by Ali G include David Beckham, Donald Trump, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and intellectual Noam Chomsky.
Ali G spends “a good deal of time in the circus that is America” for the new film, according to The InSneider. But Baron Cohen’s reps have not yet confirmed the project.
Donald Trump sat down for a chat with an in-character Sacha Baron Cohen. And he was not amused (Photo: Channel 4)
OPINION
2 min read
What to expect as second phase of Southport Inquiry begins
The inquiry into the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024 has started its second phase. It will examine how to deal with individuals who pose a risk of extreme violence.
Caption: Chair Sir Adrian Fulford sitting inside the hearing room at Liverpool Town Hall, Liverpool, ahead of publication of the findings of the inquiry into the knife attack by Axel Rudakubana who murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29, 2024. Picture date: Sunday April 12, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Photographer: Peter Byrne
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What you need to know
Young people “must be diverted” from the impluses that motivated Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, said public inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford.
The inquiry began with a minute’s silence for the victims: Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
The second phase will look at the role of the internet and social media in influencing “violence-fixated individuals” where ideology is not the primary driver.
NEWS
2 min read
What the inquiry chair says
All too often, they will be acting entirely alone, having spent endless hours in solitude, relentlessly, online.
Sir Adrian Fulford said there was a “growing challenge from violence-fixated individuals, who all too often are not acting out of an adherence to a particular ideology”.
Sir Adrian Fulford will chair the inquiry (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
What happens next
Sir Adrian’s 763-page report for the inquiry’s first phase set out 67 recommendations. The attack “could and should have been prevented” if public bodies had taken steps to stop murderer Rudakubana, he said.
The Government has accepted the recommendations for public bodies. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We will do whatever is needed to protect the public.”
NEWS
3 min read
CRIME
2 min read
The allegations relate to Jenrick’s 2024 campaign to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader. He subsequently defected from the party and joined Reform UK, where he is Treasury spokesperson and would be a candidate to become chancellor if Reform was to be in government.
The police investigation will increase pressure on Nigel Farage’s party, which has faced increased scrutiny over its finances.
While it was previously widely reported that police were reviewing evidence from the elections watchdog, Scotland Yard told The i Paper that it has now opened an investigation, following its assessment.
A Met Police spokesperson confirmed: “We have launched an investigation following a referral from the Electoral Commission on Tuesday 6 January concerning donations connected to a political party’s leadership campaign. The investigation remains ongoing.”
Jenrick told The i Paper: “These allegations are entirely false, but it is no surprise that an Establishment determined to stop Reform from delivering the change that this country so desperately needs would resort to making these demonstrably untrue claims.
“I have had no contact with the Met Police whatsoever in connection with this matter.”
Reform leader Nigel Farage has been under pressure over his financial affairs of late (Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA)
The allegations relate to a £100,000 donation Jenrick’s leadership campaign received from British entrepreneur Phillip Ullmann, via a company called Spott Fitness, during his 2024 campaign.
However, it has been claimed that £37,500 of this amount originated from a US business associate of Ullmann, Gary Klopfenstein, who has subsequently been convicted of fraud. Ullmann and Klopfenstein are now in a legal dispute.
Detectives will need to navigate conflicting accounts of who knew what and when about the source of the donation. While an investigation has been launched, it may still result in no arrests or charges.
Jenrick has previously issued firm denials that he breached electoral laws. A spokesperson described the allegations as a “politically motivated smear”.
They said: “Mr Ullmann was introduced to Robert by a Tory MP, and had his donations’ permissibility checked by the party.
“Robert and his campaign team complied with all electoral laws when receiving the donation received from Spott Fitness Ltd in 2024. Mr Jenrick has never met, spoken to, or had any contact with Mr Klopfenstein, nor was he aware of any connection between him and Mr Ullmann’s donation until he was contacted by the Electoral Commission. He fully co-operated with the Electoral Commission inquiry, providing detailed records that categorically disproved these smears in 2025.
“The dispute between these two businessmen, which seems to be the cause of these claims, has nothing to do with Robert.”
While the primary responsibility lies with the recipient to check a donation is permissible, the donor must also abide by the law, and must not disguise money from overseas. Scotland Yard has not stated whether its investigation refers to any specific individual.
Both the donor and recipient of an unlawful political donation can face action for breaches of electoral law.
Ullmann claims he repeatedly warned that some of the money was being supplied by Klopfenstein, according to legal correspondence seen by this newspaper.
Jenrick has told The i Paper that these allegations are “lies”.
The Conservative Party’s position is that all leadership candidates were reminded of the law on permissible donations, including from overseas sources.
While a check was carried out on Spott Fitness by the Tories to ensure it was UK-trading and UK-registered, the party claims it was not told that any donations were coming from the US.
Ullmann has previously said through his spokesperson that Spott Fitness provided all the information required, and has claimed that Jenrick “did not reject any part of the donation or ask our clients not to assist in collecting money from Mr Klopfenstein”.
The Electoral Commission is believed to have been investigating whether Jenrick’s campaign had failed to return a potentially impermissible donation, and whether the donor had disclosed sufficient information about the source of a donation.
Ullmann claims to have discussed Klopfenstein’s conviction at a meeting with the Tory MP and a political aide at the Conservative Party conference in the autumn of 2024, according to legal correspondence. Jenrick says this is untrue.
In the US, Klopfenstein pleaded guilty to fraud in 2024, after an unrelated FBI investigation into an investment scheme. Klopfenstein admitted using investors’ money to pay his personal expenses and invest in a real estate project, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Party leadership under scrutiny
Farage is facing two parliamentary inquiries after it emerged he accepted an undeclared £5m gift from a British-born, Thailand-based crypto billionaire, and did not declare benefits provided by an ally, George Cottrell, once convicted of fraud in the US.
The Reform leader maintains he has broken no rules in relation to the £5m gift, because he received it before he became an MP, and needs it to pay for his personal security. Parliamentary rules state that new MPs must register “all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election”.
The rules say “purely personal gifts or benefits” from family or commercial loans would not normally have to be registered.
Farage described reports in The Sunday Times of financial support from Cottrell as “wholly inaccurate”.
On Tuesday Farage resigned as an MP following scrutiny over his finances, triggering a by-election, where he will stand as a candidate. He described it as a “people versus the Establishment by-election”, adding that the “people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions”.
All mainstream parties are boycotting the by-election, with Labour and the Conservatives criticising it as a “gimmick” to distract from scrutiny and a sign Farage is “cracking under the pressure”.
Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, has also faced scrutiny from the National Crime Agency (NCA) over payments made to his own organisations, including his company Tisun Investment and a think-tank owned by him – Britain Means Business, according to The Guardian. Tice has asked the NCA to investigate whether the body is responsible for leaking his private financial information.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said: “We have been investigating donations connected to a 2024 leadership campaign. Evidence of potential offences outside our remit was referred to the Metropolitan Police Service on 6 January 2026. Our investigation is paused pending their investigation into this matter.
“We don’t discuss the details of our investigations and cannot comment further at this stage.”
Reform UK declined to comment.