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Met probes £37,500 donation to Robert Jenrick's leadership bid

politicsJul 9, 2026771,943

The Metropolitan Police have opened an investigation after the Electoral Commission referred concerns on 6 January 2026 about donations connected to Robert Jenrick’s 2024 Conservative leadership campaign. The inquiry focuses on a portion worth £37,500 of a £100,000 donation given to the campaign by British entrepreneur Phillip Ullmann through Spott Fitness, amid allegations that that portion ultimately came from US businessman Gary Klopfenstein in breach of UK electoral law. Jenrick, the Newark MP who later defected to Reform UK and now serves as the party’s Treasury spokesman, said the allegations are "entirely false" and that he has had no contact with the Met about the matter. A Reform UK spokesman said Ullmann was introduced to Jenrick by a Conservative MP, that the party checked the donation’s permissibility, and that Jenrick’s campaign complied with electoral law and cooperated with the Electoral Commission in 2025. The Met did not name which individuals are under investigation. The Electoral Commission confirmed it has paused its own inquiry pending the Met’s investigation and said it referred evidence of potential offences outside its remit to the police.

Prem Sikka
@premnsikka.bsky.social

Police are investigating a donation given to Robert Jenrick's Conservative leadership campaign in 2024. Investigation launched after referral from the UK Electoral Commission. This year Jenrick defected to Reform UK.

28545d ago
Mark Chadbourn
@chadbourn.bsky.social

The Met Police is investigating another Reform politician, Robert Jenrick, over donations made to his campaign when he was running to be Conservative leader.

26045d ago
3 sources