Reform UK has received its second £36m donation in the space of 48 hours in a huge show of force by the party’s billionaire backers.
Christopher Harborne, the party’s biggest donor, matched the record donation given on Friday by fellow cryptocurrency billionaire Ben Delo, giving Reform a total of £72m in two days.
The money will turbocharge Nigel Farage’s attempts to build a party machine to rival the Conservatives and Labour as it prepares for the next general election.
Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Harborne said that as a start-up party, Reform “needs more money than can be provided by membership fees alone” so that it could create the sort of infrastructure older parties have built over more than a century.
It means that Reform has raised more than £86m in donations so far this year, dwarfing the £10.2m raised by the Conservatives and £7.7m by Labour.
Mr Harborne and Mr Delo have pointed out that in the past five years the Tories and Labour have still raised more than Reform, which is why Mr Delo told The Telegraph on Friday that he was simply trying to level the playing field for the next election.
Mr Harborne, whose net worth is estimated at £18bn, is the man whose £5m personal gift to Mr Farage to pay for his security is the subject of a parliamentary investigation.
Opponents of Reform have suggested Mr Farage was given the money as a quid pro quo for reentering politics and championing Mr Harborne’s favourite causes, something which both men refute.
Mr Harborne writes: “What do I expect in return for my donations? Nothing, personally. 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.”
Mr 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.”
Mr Harborne says his three main concerns are the “existential threats” facing humanity: nuclear war, artificial intelligence (AI) and climate change, and he believes Reform is the only party that has the policies to tackle them by restoring the economy and creating the wealth needed to pay for defence, AI policies and clean nuclear energy.
Since January 2021, Reform has raised £110m including the two latest gifts, while the Tories have raised £150m and Labour £128m.
Before Friday, the biggest single donation to a political party was a £10m bequest left to the Tories, while the biggest donation from a living person was £9m given by Mr Harborne to Reform last year.
As well as membership fees and donations, the Conservatives receive £5.5m in so-called Short money, which is allocated by Parliament to opposition parties based on how many MPs they have.
With just eight MPs, Reform receives just more than £400,000 in Short money, meaning it is almost entirely dependent on donations, while Labour receives between £5m and £10m each year from the trade unions.
Earlier this year Labour imposed a cap of £100,000 on donations to political parties from expatriate donors in what was widely seen as an attempt to choke Reform’s funding.
The Government is proposing further restrictions on donations in its Representation of the People Bill, and some Labour MPs want Andy Burnham to go further by imposing caps on UK-based individual donors to match the cap on foreign donors.
Mr Delo has accused the Government of wanting to “rig” the next election and the donations from him, and Mr Harborne has come before Labour has a chance to make major changes to donation rules.
‘My competitive spirit inspired me to match it’
Mr Harborne admitted that when he heard Mr Delo was giving £36m – which equates to £1m per month between now and the latest date Mr Burnham can call the next election – “my competitive spirit inspired me to match it”.
He writes: “I want us to be able to afford to fund healthcare, education and other public services like social care which are incredibly important to me and the whole of our country.
“But these vital services can only be delivered if our country is strong. And a strong country is one that is funded by a vigorous economy which is creating jobs.”
He believes that Reform is the party with the best chance of delivering that.
The money has come as a significant boost to Mr Farage after a summer in which he has become the subject of not only a parliamentary investigation but also a police investigation into party funding, partly as a result of a Channel 4 undercover sting.
Reform’s poll lead has been faltering since Mr Burnham became Prime Minister, and the Tories have been enjoying increased public support under the leadership of Kemi Badenoch.
The extra £72m that Reform now has to spend will enable it to recruit more staff at its headquarters, particularly in its policy team, and employ campaign managers in target constituencies to prepare for battles on the ground.
Mr Harborne has been based in Thailand for decades but is registered as a UK resident for voting and donating purposes.