Cambridge University probing conduct of academic suspended by Reform UK

James Orr, an associate professor, was shown in Channel 4 News footage apparently trying to sidestep electoral law

Cambridge University has said it is examining the conduct of James Orr, its associate professor and a top Reform UK aide, after he was filmed appearing to try to circumvent electoral laws on foreign political donations.

Orr, the suspended head of policy for Reform, is one of two senior officials to step aside after claims that he orchestrated a plot to have polling paid for by a foreign firm – something that is impermissible under British electoral law.

The academic was filmed by a group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, seemingly attempting to sidestep election laws.

In a statement shared with the Guardian, a spokesperson for the University of Cambridge said: “The university is looking into these matters.”

Orr is an associate professor of religion at Cambridge’s divinity faculty and teaches students at the university.

Little known outside UK and US political circles, Orr has been a highly influential intellectual force within Reform. He was labelled the party’s “philosopher king” by the news organisation Politico.

A key attraction for senior figures in Reform when appointing Orr was his high-level US political contacts within the Maga movement. JD Vance, the US vice-president, has called him his “intellectual mentor” and his “British Sherpa”.

Footage broadcast by Channel 4 News on Thursday night showed an undercover reporter posing as a UK-based supporter in conversation with Orr.

Orr discussed commissioning polling that was secretly organised by Reform, but suggested it be paid for by a US company belonging to the fake supporter’s supposed father.

In a separate clip, Orr can be heard saying of the poll funding arrangement that Nigel Farage “doesn’t know, won’t know” and it is the kind of thing he would “rather not know”.

Reform UK initially described the Channel 4 News and Verbatim investigation as a “hoax”.

On Thursday evening, Orr posted a video on his X account in which he said: “There is absolutely no way this could amount to a benefit or donation in kind at all.”

He dismissed Verbatim as “politically motivated actors trying to discredit a political opponent through dubious legal means”.

Still, on Friday morning he and Dan Jukes, a senior aide to Farage who has also denied wrongdoing, stood down pending an internal party investigation into the claims raised by the broadcast.

Farage, who was also featured in the investigation meeting with the fake supporters, distanced himself from Orr and Jukes on Friday.

The party leader told reporters: “The two individuals involved are not even part of our fundraising team, so they should have gone through the appropriate channels. Checks would have been made and they would never, ever have got to sit down at a table with me.”

The Guardian has approached Orr for comment.