Reform UK has received its second £36m donation in less than 48 hours from a crypto-billionaire.
Chris Harborne matched a £36m donation made to the party by fellow crypto tycoon Ben Delo which was the largest single sum made to a British political party since declaring donations became a requirement in 2001.
Harborne also provided a £5m gift to Nigel Farage in 2024, which the Reform UK leader failed to declare before he was elected to the Commons. The incident triggered an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog.
Why did Harborne make the donation?
Writing in The Telegraph, Harborne said he believed Reform was “the only viable cause which will get the job of regeneration done.”
Chris Harborne said he wants ‘nothing’ in exchange for the £36m donation he made to Reform UK (Photo: LinkedIn)He also insisted that the UK needs a “profitable and dynamic economy” to be able to address the three “existential threats” of nuclear war, AI and climate change.
“My view is that Nigel Farage and the party fully understand what a government needs to do to get our country back on the right track,” he said.
“Whilst I have been making donations to Reform of around £1m a month, Ben Delo told me he was going to make a record donation of £36m. My competitive spirit inspired me to match it, so that is what I’ve done. And I hope others may join us,” he added.
Harborne has claimed he wants “nothing” in return for the mammoth donation: “no peerage, no policy change, just a party that is ready for government.
“I have already accumulated enough wealth for the rest of my life. I am now committed to putting that to work for Britain and humanity as a whole,” he added.
Justifying his extravagant donation, Harborne said that Reform “needs more money than can be provided by membership fees alone”.
How does this compare to other donations?
Both the Conservatives and Labour have raised more money than Reform over the past five years, with the Tories raising £150m, Labour £128m, and Reform £110m.
However, the £86m raised by Reform this year dwarfs the £10.2m raised by the Conservatives and £7.7m raised by Labour in the same period.
Before Friday, the biggest single donation to a political party was a £10m bequest left to the Tories. The biggest donation from a living person was £9m given by Harborne to Reform last year.
The donations come one week after MPs backed a cap on overseas donations at £100,000 and a suspension of funding through cryptocurrency, but the draft legislation still needs to be passed by the House of Lords to become law.
Harborne is based in Thailand, but is registered as a UK resident for voting and donating purposes.
What was Reform’s response?
Farage told The Telegraph: “I am honoured and humbled that Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne have shown such confidence in Reform.
“Both men know that we are the only party that can turn the country around and win the next general election – thanks to their generosity, we are now able to fight that election on a level playing field.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage thanked Delo and Harborne for their donations, saying he was ‘honoured and humbled’ (Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)Reform is facing intense scrutiny over its finances after a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week showed two senior Reform aides apparently discussing ways to cicumvent electoral law to secure foreign party donations.
The Metropolitan Police later confirmed it is investigating the claims, however Reform denies any wrongdoing, with Farage saying the party accepted no “dodgy money”.
The Met is also looking into donations given to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of Farage ally and convicted criminal George Cottrell, as well as a company controlled by its deputy leader Richard Tice.
Addressing Reform’s recent financial controversies, Ben Delo said: “My conclusion from Reform’s recent troubles is that they should spend less time trying to raise funds to compete on equal terms and more time preparing for government.”
The rise of the ‘mega-donor’
Delo’s “game-changing” donation to Reform should make all parties reflect on the surge in “mega-donors” in UK politics, Dr Sam Power, an expert on political financing at the University of Bristol, told The i Paper.
“I don’t think anyone can really look at the idea that one person can make a £36m donation to any political party and think that is perfectly acceptable in our political system,” Power said – even if it is strictly legal.
“Warnings have been made about the rise of mega-donors and the potential for donations in British politics for a long time.”
Power said successive governments had failed to act or introduce effective legislation to prevent ultra-wealthy individuals from injecting record-breaking sums of money into political parties.
Power, who has given evidence to Parliament ahead of the Representation of the People Bill – the legislation currently in the Lords which would cap overseas donations at £100,000 and suspend funding through cryptocurrency – called for stronger action to be taken by political parties. He said a “democracy backstop” cap of £1-2m should be introduced – “still an absurdly high limit” – to prevent “the rise of mega-donors” where other attempts to legislate have failed.
Justin Fisher, professor of political science at Brunel University of London, explained that Delo could legally give as much money as he liked to Reform if he is based in the UK and on the electoral roll.
“It throws a light on the fact we haven’t got any caps on the size of any donations,” Fisher explained. “Donations of that magnitude are incredibly rare, and obviously this not only dwarfs all previous donations but dwarfs it by some distance.”
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