Crypto billionaires line up to donate millions to far-right Reform UK party
A second cryptocurrency billionaire revealed on Saturday that he had matched a £36 million ($83.6 million) donation - the largest gift in UK political history - to Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform party announced the previous day.
The twin donations come despite anti-immigration Reform being mired in several funding scandals, including one involving the Thai-based British businessman, Christopher Harborne, who made the latest mega-contribution.
News of the gifts follow police earlier this week confirming they had widened a criminal investigation into allegations the party accepted illegal donations, shortly after fresh claims emerged in an undercover sting.
The police announcement ratcheted up the pressure on Farage, who has endured months of intense scrutiny over his party’s financial arrangements as well as a separate £5 million ($11.6m) personal gift to him from Harborne.
The Reform leader, who has denied any personal or party wrongdoing, has insisted that the money was for his security. Parliament’s corruption watchdog is investigating the payment.
Reform had topped national opinion polls since early last year but has seen its lead slip to centre-left Labour in recent months amid multiple funding controversies.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham replacing Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street in July is also seen as having rejuvenated the ruling Labour’s prospects.
Writing in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, Harborne said the new donation was “a philanthropic gift to our country” aimed at helping the party prepare for government and create the kind of infrastructure that older, more established parties have.
The announcement came within 24 hours of another crypto-magnate, Ben Delo, revealing his record donation in the same newspaper, insisting he wanted Reform to face “a fair fight”.
Delo, co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, said he wanted to give the party £1 million ($2.3m) a month until the next general election -- due by mid-2029 -- and so had “front-loaded these donations” into a single payment.
The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who has been based in Hong Kong in recent years, pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act but US President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025.
He had already given Reform £4 million ($9.3m) this year, according to election watchdog filings.
The new twin gifts each smash the previous reported record for a single donation from a living person to a UK political party, which Harborne himself had set last year when he gave Reform £9 million ($20.9m).
Farage, a leading figure in the Brexit movement before founding Reform in 2021, naturally welcomed the donations.
He said: “Thanks to the generosity of Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, Reform will now be able to fight and win the next general election on a level playing field.”
It means the party has now raised at least £85 million ($197m) since the start of the year, compared with £10.2m ($23.7m) raised by the Conservatives and £7.7m ($17.9m) by Labour, according to the Telegraph.
- AFP
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