Metropolitan Police
London police force that dropped the sexual-assault case against FIFA VAR official Rob Dieperink for insufficient evidence.
Scotland Yard said in September 2026 that complaints about a political party's donations and polling disclosed possible offences requiring investigation. The reports followed a Channel 4 News programme about Reform UK, and the force named nobody.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
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UK Local Elections 2026dropped the case against Dieperink on 15 May, finding the evidential threshold had not been met
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Because Westminster sits within its area, complaints about national political Conduct often land with The Met. In September 2026 Scotland Yard said reports about one political party's donations and polling, made after a Channel 4 News programme on Reform UK, raised possible offences it needed to investigate; the force named nobody.
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force for Greater London, excluding the Square Mile, which has its own City of London Police. Founded in 1829 under Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Act, it is the largest force in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters is New Scotland Yard, a name the press uses for the whole force.
A Commissioner leads it. The Mayor of London oversees it through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and the Home Secretary keeps powers over it. Beyond everyday policing in the capital it carries national duties, leading counter-terrorism policing and protecting the royal family, ministers and diplomats.
Scotland Yard weighs a party funding complaint
In a statement carried on 10 September 2026, the force said complaints concerning one political party's donations and polling had reached it, and that they pointed to potential offences it needed to investigate. It identified no individual and no specific offence.
The reports came after an early-September Channel 4 News broadcast in which undercover journalists, posing as an American investor and his son, were allegedly shown how polling the party had ordered could be paid for by a US firm, at a cost above £30,000. Reform UK rejected the sting as a hoax staged by climate activists, denied any wrongdoing and promised its cooperation. The Electoral Commission handles civil breaches of party-finance law; suspected crimes go to police.
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 7 October 2026. Editorial standards.