Reform UK received £9 million from donors in the first quarter of the year, the largest amount given to any political party in that period, according to the latest data. Electoral Commission figures show that Nigel Farage’s party received its largest single contribution from Thailand-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, a £3 million donation between January and March 2026.
Major Donors to Reform UK
Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency magnate Ben Delo also donated £4 million to Reform, delivered in two £2 million lump sums in January and March. David Grainger, a biotechnology executive and venture capitalist, contributed some £1,150,000 to Reform through a series of donations over the period.
Conservative and Labour Donations
Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party received the second-largest amount in donations during the first quarter, totalling £6 million. The single largest donation to the Tories was £1.1 million from Mary V Doran. Labour received some £4 million over the same period, with Lord David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner among its largest donors. They both gave Labour £550,000, while the party also received substantial funding from affiliated unions including Unite and Usdaw.
Liberal Democrats and Greens
Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats received some £2.9 million in donations in the same period, while the Green Party was given around £300,000.
New Cap on Foreign Donors
The latest data on donations to political parties comes after Labour clamped down on the amount that foreign-based donors can give to political parties. Donors based abroad now face a cap of £100,000 a year on the amount they can give to political parties. The cap, introduced at the end of March, followed scrutiny of the £12 million donated to Reform by Mr Harborne over the course of 2025.
Farage Under Scrutiny
Reform leader Mr Farage has insisted the billionaire does not want anything in return for his donations. Mr Farage is also facing questions about a £5 million gift from Mr Harborne he received in the months before announcing he would stand as an MP in the 2024 general election. He has variously said the gift was to pay for his personal security, and that it was a reward for his years of campaigning for Brexit. Parliament’s standards commissioner is currently investigating whether Mr Farage should have registered the gift as an interest.
Delo’s Move to Avoid Cap
Mr Delo, the other crypto-billionaire featuring among Reform’s latest political donations, has said he will move back to the UK from Hong Kong so he will not be subject to the cap on donations for foreign donors.
