The Conservative Party has suspended Turning Point UK chief executive Jack Ross’s membership after an undercover Al Jazeera investigation filmed him discussing paid violence and introducing a journalist to a convicted criminal who claimed he could arrange contract killings.
Al Jazeera announced the investigation on 20 October 2026 and published the full documentary online on 21 October. Its findings also raise questions about the organisation’s links to street protest groups and the Conservative Party. Ross denies Al Jazeera’s findings and says he was not speaking seriously. Police Scotland has said it will assess the documentary for potential criminality.
What the undercover investigation recorded
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit says its reporter began working undercover inside Turning Point UK in 2021. Its reporting shows Ross discussing forms of violence that could allegedly be arranged for payment, including beatings, stabbings, shootings and killings.
Ross introduced the journalist to Allan Nesbitt, a Glasgow-based man with criminal convictions who, according to Al Jazeera, has links to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UVF is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.
To test the claims, journalists invented a dispute with a fictional business rival. Al Jazeera says Nesbitt then described how a killing could be arranged and displayed firearms and ammunition in a subsequent video conversation. The broadcaster also reported claims by Nesbitt about previous killings and arms trafficking. Those are his recorded claims, not independently established findings that such offences occurred as described.
The supposed target was fictional. The undercover scenario is not evidence that an actual contract killing was commissioned or carried out.
Conservative Party suspension and Badenoch office connection
The Conservatives confirmed that Ross’s party membership has been suspended with immediate effect pending an investigation. This is a party disciplinary action, not a criminal conviction, and does not establish that he has been removed as Turning Point UK’s chief executive.
In a further development published on 25 October, The Guardian reported that Ross worked during 2025 as a junior external social media consultant in Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s office. Sources close to Badenoch confirmed that consultancy role to the newspaper. The reporting does not establish that Badenoch knew about the conversations revealed by the undercover investigation.
On 22 October, Badenoch said the Conservative Party did not condone Ross’s conduct, in remarks reported by Al Jazeera. His party membership remains suspended pending the Conservatives’ investigation.
Ross previously stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative local election candidate in 2023. Turning Point UK, an independent British offshoot of the American organisation Turning Point USA, has also worked with figures involved in anti-immigration protests.
Further claims about protests and a staged rally
Al Jazeera’s documentary includes footage involving Turning Point UK chief operating officer Nick Tenconi, who also leads UKIP, discussing efforts to build a political movement involving demonstrations and disruptive activists. It separately reports that Ross paid Nesbitt to organise a staged rally supporting the removal of UK sanctions on Zimbabwe. These accounts come from the broadcaster’s undercover reporting and should not be treated as court findings.
Searchlight has reported on the investigation, including the alleged paramilitary connection and the political relationships it raises.
What the police and those involved have said
Police Scotland confirmed it was aware of the documentary and would review it for possible criminality. Al Jazeera says it alerted Scottish police to the weapons featured in its reporting. No final police or prosecution finding arising from these allegations has been independently confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article.
Ross has denied Al Jazeera’s findings completely, saying his comments to the undercover journalist were not intended seriously. Al Jazeera reported that the other parties featured did not respond to its approaches for comment. The Guardian said Turning Point UK had not responded to its inquiries.
The distinction matters: what can be established is that the undercover footage was published, that Ross’s Conservative membership was suspended and that police said they would assess the material. Whether any criminal offences were committed is a separate question for investigators and, if relevant, the courts.
Watch Al Jazeera’s full investigation
The documentary Murder For Hire & The UK’s Far Right was published by Al Jazeera English on 21 October 2026.
Video not loading? Watch Al Jazeera’s full investigation directly on YouTube.
Sources: Al Jazeera investigation; Badenoch’s response, 22 October; Al Jazeera Media Network documentary announcement; The Guardian, 25 October; Searchlight, 23 October; Home Office proscribed organisations list.
