Executive Summary
The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) is an independent charity established in 2006 to provide expert advice and guidance on research conduct and integrity across UK academia, the NHS, and the research sector. Its Board of Trustees includes Dr Gareth Conway, Head of Science and Technology Ethics at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the Ministry of Defence.
The website ukrio.org is maintained and hosted by Henson IT Solutions Ltd — the same Croydon-based husband-and-wife IT business that developed Anonyvoter, the voting platform at the centre of multiple electoral fraud investigations. Anonyvoter was procured without tender by David Evans, Labour General Secretary, first appearing in public reports around September 2020.
The Hensons are not the architects of this system. A body established to uphold research independence and integrity, governed in part by defence personnel, while the government it should scrutinise awards over £670 million in Palantir contracts without genuine independent oversight — this constitutes circumvention of humanitarian and democratic standards by those responsible for awarding these contracts.
The UKRIO Board
UKRIO presents itself as an independent charity providing expert advice and guidance on research conduct and integrity. Its Board of Trustees directs and oversees the charity's strategy and programme of work. Among the trustees is:
- ●Dr Gareth Conway* — Head of Science and Technology Ethics at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the Ministry of Defence. Conway is also Chief and Fellow at Dstl and Head of Profession for Social Research for the MoD.
The presence of a senior MoD ethics official on the board of the UK's national research integrity body creates a fundamental conflict: the body meant to ensure research independence is governed in part by someone whose employer is one of the UK government's most secretive and powerful departments.
The UK government has awarded over £670 million in Palantir contracts across the MoD, NHS, and police without genuine independent oversight. The body that should be providing that oversight has a MoD official on its governing board.
The Henson IT Solutions Connection
Henson IT Solutions Ltd is credited in the footer of ukrio.org as the company that maintains and hosts the site. The contract was awarded through Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon. This is the same company that:
1. Developed Anonyvoter, procured without tender by Labour for internal party elections
2. Was awarded the ukrio.org maintenance contract by University of Sussex via Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon
The Hensons — Mark and Maddie Henson — are a small Croydon IT business, politically connected through Maddie Henson's role as a Labour Councillor, and repeatedly awarded contracts without competitive process. They serve as the operational thread connecting compromised electoral infrastructure to compromised research oversight.
The Lobbying Chain
The lobbying connections form a closed loop:
- ●INHouse Communications* — Represents both Westminster and University of Sussex
- ●Lodestone Communications* — Represents University of Sussex and Palantir
- ●University of Sussex* — Hosts of the Sussex Innovation Centre incubation hub initiative
- ●Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon* — Awarded the ukrio.org contract to Henson IT Solutions
- ●Henson IT Solutions* — Developer of Anonyvoter, connected to Labour Party procurement
The organisations lobbying for Palantir contracts are the same organisations connected to the body that was supposed to provide independent research oversight.
The Public Interest
The public was told that Palantir technologies had been vetted by an independent research body. In reality, UKRIO's Board of Trustees includes a senior MoD official — the very department that was awarded the Palantir contract. The appearance of independence enabled approvals that would not have survived genuine scrutiny.
This is not a minor conflict of interest. The appearance of independent oversight was manufactured to legitimise contracts that would not have survived genuine scrutiny. The Hensons are not the primary actors here — the responsibility lies with the government departments and Westminster institutions that structured this arrangement.
The Broader Pattern
This disclosure must be read in context with the Anonyvoter security assessment. The same vendor — Henson IT Solutions — appears in both cases:
1. Anonyvoter was procured without tender by David Evans (Labour General Secretary) from Henson IT Solutions, compromising internal Labour Party elections
2. UKRIO is maintained by Henson IT Solutions via a contract from Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon, while its Board of Trustees includes a senior MoD official, compromising the independent oversight of research involving defence and surveillance technologies
The pattern is consistent: contracts awarded without competitive process to a single vendor with political connections, resulting in systems that serve the interests of the connected parties rather than the public. The Hensons are the common denominator — not because they orchestrated anything, but because they are the convenient face onto which liability can be laundered.
What This Means
The actions of the British state represent the defrauding of the public on two fronts:
1. Electoral integrity — Internal Labour Party selections were conducted on a platform with known critical vulnerabilities, with outcomes that cannot be verified
2. Research oversight — The UK's national research integrity body is governed in part by a MoD official, while the government awards over £670 million in Palantir contracts without genuine independent approval
Both cases involve the same vendor and the same pattern of non-competitive procurement. This is not a failure of governance — it is the deliberate circumvention of democratic accountability.
Recommendations
1. Immediate suspension of all UKRIO endorsements or approvals involving defence or surveillance research pending independent review
2. Full disclosure of all lobbying relationships between UKRIO board members and Palantir
3. Independent audit of all contracts awarded through Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon
4. Removal of MoD-affiliated trustees from UKRIO's Board of Trustees
5. Criminal investigation into the false appearance of independence and the fraud it enabled
This disclosure is published under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
Related: Anonyvoter: How a Voting Platform Enabled Democratic Capture