Scotland Yard has launched a formal investigation into a £37,500 donation to Robert Jenrick’s Conservative leadership campaign, following a referral from the Electoral Commission in January. The force confirmed the probe concerns “donations connected to a political party’s leadership campaign”, after the i paper first reported the investigation.
The money was part of £100,000 in donations from Spott Fitness Ltd that the Electoral Commission began examining in April 2025, after the Guardian reported allegations that the funds originated overseas. In September 2024, the British businessman Phillip Ullmann revealed he was behind the Spott Fitness donations. But the commission has been examining claims that £37,500 of that sum actually came from Innovyz, a US company founded by Gary Klopfenstein, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2024. Foreign donations to UK politicians are illegal.
“Met police investigate £37,500 donation to Robert Jenrick's leadership campaign amid calls for donation caps.”
Jenrick, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK earlier this year, said the “allegations are entirely false” and that he has “had no contact with the Met Police whatsoever”. A spokesman for Jenrick called the claims a “politically motivated smear”, insisting all donations were checked for permissibility by the party and that Jenrick had never met or spoken to Klopfenstein. The Conservative Party said all candidates in the 2024 leadership race were reminded of donation laws.
The investigation comes as cross-party MPs, led by former Labour chair Dame Anneliese Dodds, push for a cap on political donations and a slashing of national campaign spending by £10m. Writing for the Mirror, Dodds warned of a “giant, unaccountable ratchet” turning political fundraising into an “arms race”. The Autonomy Institute, in a separate report seen by the Mirror, proposes a £20,000 donation limit, arguing that “money buys access in Westminster”. Polling cited in the report shows more than eight in 10 voters believe wealthy individuals use donations to advance their own interests. Labour backbencher Neil Duncan-Jordan, who wrote the report’s foreword, said: “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
Reform UK, Jenrick’s new party, received over £5.4m in large donations in the final quarter of last year alone. The clash between the police investigation and fresh political pressure on donation laws leaves a question over whether Westminster will finally act to curb the flow of cash.
