Christopher Harborne has matched a £36 million donation to Reform UK, giving the party a second seven‑figure contribution within 48 hours and propelling its fundraising haul to levels that far outstrip the main parties in the same period.
Size of gifts eclipses recent party fundraising
The matching donation was reported after fellow crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo made an initial £36 million contribution. Together, the two gifts form part of a wider fundraising surge that has left Reform’s receipts this year substantially ahead of both the Conservative and Labour parties.
Harborne has previously given large sums to Reform and to its leader. In 2024 he supplied a £5 million gift to Nigel Farage, a donation that was not declared before Farage’s election to the House of Commons and that prompted an inquiry by the parliamentary standards watchdog.
“My view is that Nigel Farage and the party fully understand what a government needs to do to get our country back on the right track,” Harborne wrote in The Telegraph, adding that he wanted “nothing” in return for the donation: “No peerage, no policy change, just a party that is ready for government.”
The donor set out broader motives in that piece, saying he regarded the party as best placed to tackle what he described as three “existential threats”: nuclear war, artificial intelligence and climate change, and that a stronger economy would be necessary to confront them.
Comparisons with other parties
Private fundraising by Reform has been striking. Over the past five years, the Conservatives have raised around £150 million, Labour about £128 million and Reform approximately £110 million, according to party fundraising figures cited in reporting. But in the most recent period Reform’s income of about £86 million dwarfs sums reported by the Conservatives (£10.2 million) and Labour (£7.7 million).
| Party | Fundraising (most recent period) |
|---|---|
| Reform UK | £86m |
| Conservatives | £10.2m |
| Labour | £7.7m |
Implications and scrutiny
The magnitude of the gifts invites several lines of inquiry. Large donations raise questions about influence, transparency and the relationship between major donors and party policy. Harborne has publicly denied seeking personal reward, saying he wants no peerage or policy concessions in return.
Separately, the earlier failure to declare a significant gift to Mr Farage led to a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards body. That background is likely to sharpen interest in how the new donations are handled and declared under electoral law and parliamentary rules.
- Two £36m gifts – Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.
- Previous large gift – Harborne’s £5m to Nigel Farage in 2024, under investigation for non‑declaration.
- Fundraising gap – Reform’s recent receipts far exceed the other parties in the most recent reporting period.
Party officials have framed the donations as a reflection of private individuals’ support for Reform’s platform. Donors have also offered public explanations for their giving. But the scale of the sums — and the speed with which they arrived — will be of interest to regulators, opposition parties and journalists alike.
All parties routinely rely on private donations to fund campaigning. What distinguishes the current episode is the size of the individual gifts and the extent to which they have shifted short‑term fundraising totals. How that reordering of resources will translate into political advantage on the ground, or whether it will prompt calls for changes to political finance rules, remains to be seen.
