Crypto Billionaires Propel Reform UK's Fundraising Lead
Reform UK secured £7 million from two British crypto billionaires living abroad earlier this year, according to recent filings, reinforcing its fundraising dominance in recent months.
Hong Kong-based businessman Ben Delo contributed £4 million to Nigel Farage's party, while Christopher Harborne, residing in Thailand, donated £3 million.
These donations were made in the weeks preceding the government's announcement of a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens living overseas, effective after 25 March.
The proposed limit has ignited controversy between the parties, with Reform accusing Labour of
"choking off legal funding for its main rival".
The donations appear in the latest Electoral Commission publication covering large donations for the first quarter of this year.
The filings detail that Reform received £2 million from Delo on 14 January and another £2 million on 2 March, alongside £3 million from Harborne on 23 January. None of these donations were made in cryptocurrency.
These contributions represented the majority of the £9.3 million in private donations declared by Reform during this period and approximately one-third of the £20.7 million total declared by all parties.
Additionally, the party declared £1.1 million in donations from biotech entrepreneur David Grainger.
Sheffield-born Delo, co-founder of BitMEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, is a first-time donor to Reform UK but had disclosed these donations earlier this year.
Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor, donated a total of £12 million to Reform in 2025, including a record £9 million donation in August, the largest single sum ever given by a living individual to a British political party.
Farage is currently under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner regarding whether he should have declared a £5 million cash gift received from Harborne before the 2024 election upon his election as an MP.
Farage contends he was not required to register the
"purely private"gift, as it was unrelated to his parliamentary or political activities.
Election Fundraising
The substantial individual donations enabled Reform UK's fundraising efforts to surpass those of both Labour and the Conservatives, who each declared around £4 million in private donations during the same period.
This follows Reform receiving over £5.4 million in large donations in the final quarter of the previous year, more than any other party, as they prepared for critical elections in May.
In the latest quarter, Labour's largest donations were £550,000 each from long-standing donor Lord David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner, former Autoglass CEO, who contributed millions to Labour before the last general election.
Labour also declared £1.4 million from seven unions, including £392,544 from Unite and £366,936 from Unison.
In contrast, the Green Party reported £209,000 in private donations, while the Liberal Democrats declared £2.2 million.
Political parties must report all donations exceeding £11,180 to the Electoral Commission. These figures exclude smaller donations and membership fees, which are reported separately in annual accounts.
Opposition parties also receive public funding for parliamentary duties, allocated based on previous election performance.
In the first quarter of this year, the Conservatives received £1.8 million from public funds, the Liberal Democrats £727,134, and Reform UK £98,763.
Controversy Over Overseas Donation Cap
The latest filings follow the government's announcement of a £100,000 annual cap on donations from British citizens residing outside the UK.
This cap is intended to apply retrospectively from 25 March once legislation passes Parliament, requiring parties to return any amounts exceeding the limit received after this date.
Ministers assert the measure, announced alongside a government-commissioned review earlier this year, aims to reduce the risk of impermissible foreign national donations
"slipping through the net".
However, the policy has provoked a heated dispute with Reform and its major donors, who accuse Labour of attempting to hinder their party's progress ahead of the next general election, which must occur by 2029.
In April, Delo stated he planned to expedite his return to the UK to continue
"contribut[ing] more to Reform's budget".
Harborne, who has previously claimed he was
"the reason"the Labour government introduced the cap, indicated he might legally challenge the limit and has not excluded returning to the UK to circumvent it.
