Could dark money be the key to Farage's undoing?

Hardly a day goes by without Nigel Farage appearing in the news.

- CHRIS BLACKHURST

Usually and increasingly, it is because he is alleged to have transgressed: behaving as a racist bully while at school; exceeding the election expenses limit in his Clacton constituency. So far, he has picked his way through the accusations and on he goes.

The schooldays appear to be having an impact because of the way he responds, which is by borrowing from the Trumpian playbook and lashing out - rounding on the messenger, accusing the BBC of having itself previously aired programmes that would not be acceptable today. It's true: it did. But the BBC is not seeking to run the country and has since corrected its approach. No one could sensibly accuse the broadcaster of being racist (political bias is not the same).

On Farage's constituency funding, Reform UK is said to have breached the spending rules. The charge is made by a former member of his campaign team, who has reportedly submitted documents to Scotland Yard showing that Farage's constituency party spent more than the £20,660 limit. Labour and the Tories have piled in, demanding answers; Reform maintains the complainant is a "disgruntled former councillor".

The source, Richard Everett, says the party's official return came to £400 below the cap set by electoral law, and the undeclared spending would have put it above. He also said he thought Farage himself had been "blissfully unaware," which does seem to weaken the case against the Reform leader. It may well prove to be an instance of carelessness - something that is frequently laid at the Farage door.