Reform UK has received a £36m donation from a British cryptocurrency billionaire – a record for a UK political party. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, external, Ben Delo said he was making the move because he wanted a “fair fight and a level playing field”. The sum is the biggest single donation ever given to a political party in the UK. Party leader Nigel Farage said he was “honoured and humbled” by the gift.
Delo said he was donating £1m a month between now and the latest date Labour could call a general election in 2029 – but that he would give all the money up front in case the government tried to limit mega-donations in future. There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money UK-based donors can give to political parties. But Labour previously introduced a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens living overseas. Sheffield-born Delo, who has already donated £4m to Reform, has previously said he will move back to the UK from Hong Kong in order to continue his backing for the party.
Last year, Delo was given an unconditional pardon by US President Donald Trump over a Bank Secrecy Act violation. In the Telegraph, Delo wrote: “Unlike the people who express mock concern for the health of ‘our democracy’ while doing everything they can to keep it as a cartel, I want a fair fight and a level playing field. “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.” Nigel Farage tells BBC he ‘wasn’t listening’ during foreign donor talks filmed undercover Why Reform UK undercover donations claims are legally complicated Crypto billionaires help Reform cement fundraising lead Reform’s fundraising has been under scrutiny with police announcing an investigation over allegations it broke foreign funding laws, following a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week. The party denied any wrongdoing and said it would co-operate with the investigation.
Farage is also under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5m cash gift he received from Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne ahead of the 2024 election upon his election as an MP. Farage argues he was under no obligation to register the “purely private” gift, as it was unrelated to his parliamentary or political activities. The Metropolitan Police is also investigating whether payments to Reform in the weeks before the last election complied with donation laws. The police inquiry is looking at donations given directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longstanding Farage ally George Cottrell.
It is also examining payments from a company controlled by Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, which received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024. The restrictions on donations from Britons living abroad prompted a furious row with Reform and its key donors, who have accused Labour of trying to stymie their party’s progress. The government has also sought to prevent overseas voters moving to the UK from giving more than £100,000 for a year after their arrival as part of the Representation of the People Bill, which has its second reading in the Lords on Monday. Last year Harborne gave a single donation of £9m to Reform – which was the biggest single donation to a UK political party by a living person at the time.
The Conservatives had received £10m as a legacy but that too has been eclipsed by Delo’s latest donation. Responding to the donation, a Labour Party spokesperson said Farage was “still up to his neck in scandal” and “the questions he faces aren’t going away – in fact they’re piling up”. “Reform UK can’t buy their way out of questions about sleaze, criminal mates and dodgy finances,” they said. “It’s time Farage and Reform finally came clean with the public, co-operated fully with the police, and proved they’re not just in it for themselves.” Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart said Farage wanted to “bring Trump’s America to our shores by buying his way into power”.
“He’s trying to get into Number 10 as if it’s a stop on a monopoly board,” the Liberal Democrat added. “It can’t go on like this. Andy Burnham needs to introduce a cap on political donations. Our democracy depends on it.”
