Reform UK is raising millions more than the other political parties from private donations, bringing in £9m largely from cryptocurrency billionaires in the first three months of the year.
Nigel Farage’s party took a £3m donation from the cryptocurrency and aviation investor Christopher Harborne, who is a British-Thai dual citizen, and £4m from the cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo, who is relocating to the UK from Hong Kong.
Between them, the pair’s donations account for a third of all private money flowing into politics in the first quarter.
Reform’s fundraising far outstripped Labour and the Conservatives, which each raised about £4m from private donations.
The party’s donation from Thailand-based Harborne brings his total donations to £15m in the past year, while Delo is a first-time donor to the party.
On top of Harborne’s huge donations Farage is under pressure for having accepted £5m from Harborne as a personal gift, which is now under investigation by the standards commissioner. The Reform leader has said it was to pay for his security but later claimed it was a reward for having successfully campaigned for Brexit.
Reform also secured £1m in donations from David Grainger, an investor in health, biotech and longevity.
Another new donor is Navroz Udwadia, the co-founder of an investment company called New Wave Global, while a company owned by Reform’s leader on South Tyneside council, Paul Mackings, donated £111,000.
Other donors include Maria Rost, who appears to be the wife of US crypto and insurance investor John Rost, who is based in the Cayman Islands, Palm Beach and Surrey. She has given the party £130,000.
Another donor is Nicolas Homsy, who has had business links to the Middle East and gave £50,000, and RMB Associates, run by nightclub owner Robin Birley, brother of Zac Goldsmith, has given the same amount.
The Conservatives’ coffers were boosted by £1.1m from a donor called Mary V Doran, while Labour’s biggest contributors were its regular donors David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner, as well as the major trade unions.
The sums given in the first three months of the year were more than double the amounts from the previous year, reflecting Reform’s donations from crypto investors.
Susan Hawley, the executive director of the Spotlight on Corruption campaign group, said the figures exposed “the scale of big money flowing into British politics and raise serious questions about who is funding our political parties”.
She added: “Time and again, we see a small number of wealthy individuals and opaque corporate structures playing an outsized role in financing our democracy. That risks undermining public trust and fuels the perception that the rich can simply buy political influence, bypassing and undermining our democracy.”
Keir Starmer was pressed this week to bring in a cap on donations, but he reiterated the government’s plans to limit overseas donations only and impose a moratorium on donations made in cryptocurrency.
Publishing the latest donation figures, Jackie Killeen, the director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “Political parties accepted £24.7m in donations in the first quarter of 2026. The UK political finance system has high levels of transparency, and we know that voters care about where parties get their money from. This publication is a key part of delivering this information to voters.
“However, we know there are parts of the system that need strengthening, and we have highlighted the need for changes to the law for some time. The UK government’s proposed reforms to the political finance regime in the representation of the people bill could strengthen donation controls and help ensure voters have confidence in the political finance system. We will continue to work with the government so that any changes are grounded in evidence and workable in practice.”
A new analysis by the DeSmog website has found that the rightwing TV news channel GB News has paid more than £1m to Reform MPs. According to the investigations outlet, Farage has been paid £700,000 by GB News since becoming an MP. Reform MP Lee Anderson has earned £300,000 from the channel, which is owned by the Brexit campaigner and hedge fund boss Sir Paul Marshall and the Dubai-based investment company Legatum.
MPs on the standards committee are considering whether to limit or ban MPs’ earnings from jobs in the media.
