Reform Spent Election Cash on £350 Bubbly and Luxury Hotel

Reform UK paid for a £350 bottle of champagne at a luxury lunch and a £989-a-night hotel with hundreds of pounds in room service, its election campaign spending data shows.

- Rowena Mason

Receipts submitted to the Electoral Commission show instances of high spending at top London venues in the first half of last year.

During a £1,703 lunch at the Shard in May last year, about four diners enjoyed set-course meals, the £352 magnum of champagne, another £155 bottle of Veuve Clicquot, three cocktails at £19.50 each, two £18 wines, a £24 gin and tonic, and an 18-year-old Glenfiddich whisky at £31.

In another £1,367 bill from June 2024, Reform paid for a single night's £989 stay at Sea Containers, a hotel on London's South Bank, plus £99 on "dinner liquor" and £205 on room service and the minibar.