The staggering donations have smashed records as the largest in British political history, with details now emerging about how the huge sums could be used.
The donations will be put to campaign managers and policy experts (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage has promised to turn Reform UK into a party fit for government following a record £72 million donation to the party. Billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo have made the largest donation in British political history.
The Reform leader said the funds would be used to hire “the best minds in every area”, as speculation mounts over the possibility of an early general election.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Farage said that, with the two £36 million donations, the party would appoint campaign managers in a bid to target key constituencies and compete for the best policy experts. Sources also expect him to establish an “attack unit” to target opponents.
Mr Farage said: “The money will be used for one purpose only: to make certain we are ready to form a government at the next election.
“Now the British people have a genuine alternative: a properly funded, professionally organised and determined party that will put this country’s interests first once more. This money is an investment in democratic renewal, pure and simple.”
According to Mr Farage, the billionaires donated the funds to circumvent Labour’s attempt to cap political donations, as well as to fast-track his attempts to build a party machine to rival the Conservatives and Labour.
Reform announced the donation from Mr Delo, co-founder of a digital currency trading platform, on Friday evening. The party then announced on Saturday that the £36 million had been matched by Mr Harbone, a tech investor based in Thailand. He registered as a UK resident for voting and donating purposes.
The donations broke records, with the previous biggest single donation to a political party being a £10 million bequest left to the Tories. The biggest donation from a living person was the £9 million Mr Harbone donated to Reform last year.
This year, Reform UK has raised nearly £90 million, compared with just over £10 million and £8 million raised by its counterparts, the Conservatives and Labour, respectively.
Mr Harbone said he was aware of possible “media speculation regarding this donation” and expected “nothing” in return for the donation.
Reform UK have raised over £90 million this year (Image: Getty)
He added: “I am committed to putting that to work for Britain and humanity as a whole. I want the same as everyone else in Britain: for my children and grandchildren to have the chance to live happy and productive lives here and be rewarded for their hard work.
“At the next general election, people will have to vote for the party they think will best get that done and I’m making a donation… to the party I believe will do so.”
Bridget Phillipson MP, chairwoman of the Labour Party, said: “Farage can’t buy his way out of the sleaze and scandal he and Reform UK are drowning in – or the multiple police investigations that are ongoing into Reform’s dodgy finances.
“The serious questions Farage and Reform need to answer aren’t going away – in fact they’re just piling up. It’s time Farage and Reform came clean with the public and prove they’re not just in it for themselves.”
Nigel Farage’s enemies thought they’d destroyed him – now he’s laughing at them
Reform UK leader is bouncing back and there’s nothing his opponents can do, writes Jonathan Walker
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage looks set to have the last laugh (Image: Getty)
They thought it was all over. But Nigel Farage is having the last laugh, because events over the past few days have shown he is still very much a contender for No 10.
It’s true that in recent months, the Reform UK leader has been rocked by a series of funding-related allegations. There was the £5million gift from Thai-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne. The gift itself was entirely legal and in no way against any parliamentary rules, but Mr Farage’s enemies claim he should have registered it, meaning details would appear on the House of Commons website.
Then there was the undercover sting by Channel 4, in which senior Reform figures – who have since been suspended – were filmed apparently discussing ways to accept a £500,000 donation from a wealthy American, even though it would have been against the law. The donation was never made. But it all provided ammunition for Mr Farage’s enemies.
And there is some evidence that the mud constantly thrown at Mr Farage has dented Reform UK’s popularity, although this should not be exaggerated. Opinion polls suggest about 25% of voters still back Reform.
But now, Mr Farage is fighting back. Reform is receiving two massive donations, giving it a war chest to ensure British politics really does become a fair fight.
Because while all the focus has been on Reform, the other parties have been receiving huge sums of money from donors for decades.
Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne are giving Reform £36million each, making a total of £72million.
Mr Farage said the money would be used “for one purpose only: to make certain we are ready to form a government at the next election”.
He said Reform would fund “the best research and policy department British politics has ever seen” and recruit “the best minds in every area”.
And deputy leader Richard Tice said: “What these two donations are trying to do is to actually level the playing field.
“We’re relatively new, we haven’t had the vast donations over the last five to 10 years that Labour and the Tories have had, so we need to employ campaign managers up and down the country, we need to employ brilliant policy people, the best minds, in order to ensure that we have the best policies.”
In 2024, for example, the Conservatives received £15million from a body called The Phoenix Partnership, owned by businessman Frank Hester.
A hedge fund called Quadrature Capital handed £4million to Labour in the same year.
Ecotricity, owned by energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, gave Labour £3.6million.
And union UNISON gave Labour £2.7million while USDAW gave £2.2million, the GMB gave £1.9million, and Unite gave £1.8million.
All of that is just in one year. And those are only some of the biggest donations – there are many more.
This has traditionally been considered perfectly normal. And there’s nothing wrong with it. The only real alternative would be for parties to get more money from taxpayers.
As Mr Tice says, political parties need buildings and staff. They need to carry out research and develop policies. And they need representatives across the country to organise campaigns and print leaflets.
The traditional parties have this infrastructure. They need it, and they have to pay for it somehow.
But Reform is in exactly the same boat. It needs infrastructure, too, if British voters are to have the option of choosing a Reform government on polling day.
These two donations, mammoth though they appear, will give Mr Farage and his party a fighting chance at the next election – on something close to equal terms with the other parties.