The Reform UK funding surge

Reform UK received two record-breaking £36 million donations within 48 hours in mid-September 2026: crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo gave first, and Thailand-based crypto investor Christopher Harborne matched it the next day, saying his "competitive spirit" inspired him and that he expected "nothing personally" in return. The combined £72m exceeds what all UK political parties raised in donations in the whole of 2025 (around £69m) and dwarfs the previous record UK party donation. Party leader Nigel Farage said the money would let Reform "fight and win the next election on a level playing field" and hire up to 400 campaign managers across target seats; deputy leader Richard Tice said Delo's donation was structured as an upfront lump sum specifically so Labour couldn't retroactively legislate against it.

The windfall landed amid active scrutiny of Reform's finances: the Metropolitan Police is investigating whether the party solicited illegal foreign donations after a Channel 4 News report showed aides discussing workarounds, and separately examining donations linked to Farage ally George Cottrell's mother and a company controlled by Tice; Farage also faces a parliamentary standards inquiry over an earlier undeclared £5m gift from Harborne. Labour called on Reform to "come clean," while the Greens and Liberal Democrats renewed calls for a cap on individual donations (£500,000, in the Greens' proposal); the government's Representation of the People Bill, which would cap donations from British expats at £100,000, heads to the House of Lords, though Reform says both donations -- structured just before the cap could apply -- would remain legal even under it.