An independent review into the impact of foreign financial influence and interference in domestic politics from Russia and other hostile states has been announced after one of Reform UK’s former senior politicians, Nathan Gill, was jailed for accepting bribes from a pro-Kremlin agent.
Amid growing concern inside the security services and parliament over the scale of the foreign threat to British democracy, the government-commissioned inquiry will focus on the effectiveness of the UK’s political finance laws.
This will include ensuring that regulation can identify foreign influence and that existing safeguards against illicit funding streams, including cryptocurrencies, are effective. It will also examine the rules governing all political parties as well as the Electoral Commission’s current enforcement powers.
The focus on the evolving threat of political interference to British democracy follows the cases of the former MEP Gill, who was jailed for 10 years for accepting bribes on behalf of the Russian state, and Christine Lee, the UK-based lawyer identified as working covertly on behalf of the Chinese Communist party.
After the Gill verdict last month, the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, said an investigation into Russian and Chinese influence over British politics would be welcome, so there is an expectation that he, along with other political leaders, would be willing to cooperate.
Farage has described Gill, who previously led the party in Wales, as a single “bad apple” and condemned his actions as “reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable”, adding that he was pleased that justice had been served.
Announcing the review, the communities secretary, Steve Reed, told MPs: “The facts are clear. A British politician took bribes to further the interests of the Russian regime, a regime which forcefully deported vulnerable Ukrainian children and delivered a deadly nerve agent attack on UK soil, killing a British citizen.
“This conduct is a stain on our democracy. This independent review will advance this government’s work to remove that stain.”
Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary at the now-closed Department for Exiting the European Union, will lead the inquiry, which will conclude by the end of March 2026. His findings will then be used to inform next year’s elections and democracy bill.
The review will look into the post-Brexit landscape, rather than the impact of Russian disinformation on the 2016 referendum, inevitably disappointing some of those who have campaigned for another inquiry into that period.
Reed highlighted the government’s elections strategy, published in July 2025, which will close election funding loopholes, strengthen existing rules on donations and clamp down on shell companies. However, he added that Gill’s prosecution had shown “that we need to consider whether our firewall is enough”.
He told MPs: “It is right that we now take a step back to look at how we can protect our democracy against such appalling crimes … We must learn the lessons so that this cannot happen again.”
Separately, Farage has faced calls – which he has declined – to internally investigate and root out any links between Reform UK and Russia. Keir Starmer said Farage, whose party is way ahead in the polls, had questions to answer about how this had happened.
During his time as a senior civil servant, Rycroft led the UK Governance Group, which had responsibility for constitutional and electoral affairs. Investigating allegations of wrongdoing remains the responsibility of the Electoral Commission and police.
The security minister, Dan Jarvis, who is also chair of the defending democracy taskforce, added: “This independent review will help to strengthen our democracy against covert attempts to interfere with our sovereign affairs.
“It will rigorously test the financial safeguards we currently have in place and ensure we have all the tools necessary to disrupt and deter threats. Protecting national security is our first duty and we will not tolerate those who trade our national interest for personal gain.”
Jarvis last month announced a counter-political interference and espionage action plan, which aims to disrupt and deter spying from states such as China and Russia.
Under the plan, intelligence services will give political parties security briefings and issue guidance to election candidates on suspicious activity. They will also work with professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn, to make them a more hostile operating environment for spies.
An attempt by three former MPs to force the government to hold an inquiry into allegations of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum failed at the European court of human rights this summer.
The court noted there had been two inquiries in the UK, including the Russia report by the intelligence and security committee in 2020, and a succession of legislation, including the National Security Act 2023, as a response to the issue.
