Reform given huge donations by crypto currency billionaires

Cryptocurrency self interests and opportunity for money laundering are of concern. The fact that the majority of Reform's donations of such huge sums form 2 Cryptocurrency businessmen, Harborne and Delo, one of which convicted of money laundering but then pardoned by Trump (what an accolade!) is of further concern.

Will be interesting to see how the Mycroft report progresses through parliament- which is clear, if passed those rules will apply retrospectively to easier this year- before the 2 mega most recent donations from Harborne and Delo.

A turning point for funding in British politics.

Interesting substack piece from Fraser Nelson on this, referring to what James Orr said in the Verbatim undercover investigation:

“We just don’t have British resident donors or British entities that would support us,” Reform UK’s James Orr told the undercover reporter, later broadcast on Ch4. “That’s the grim reality.” And a bit of an embarrassment. The ‘party of the people’ gets negligible money from the people. The table below (in the link) shows small donations - of less than £10k - for the first half of the year. Without the millionaire donors, Orr is right: Reform UK is simply not a cause the people want to support financially.

What is happening now with crypto donations is what has been happening in the USA.

Nelson discusses how these mega-donations could both help Reform - paying for the publishing of a tsunami of propaganda that supports the party - or work against them to encourage tactical voting. As he points out, Reform lose every two horse race. And that was back in February before the slew of allegations that show Reform mired in sleaze and the recent events at conference.

frasernelson.substack.com/p/farage-may-be-about-to-discover-what

Encouraging too is this piece in today’s Observer that suggests the legislation that is currently going through Parliament should make these latest donations illegal:

Florence Eshalomi, the communities minister, told the House of Commons on 2nd September that the cap would also be applied retrospectively to any donations from overseas electors received since the measures were announced on 25 March 2026. She said this would “prevent bad actors from funnelling money into our elections in advance of the change in the law.”

archive.is/20260913053642/https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/crypto-tycoons-72m-donation-to-reform-uk-could-be-illegal#selection-769.0-769.358

If that turns out to be the case, brace for an avalanche of wailing and legal challenges.

I watched Laura Kuenssberg this morning. Apart from Jenrick the other politicians were concerned about huge donations.
If they can keep the money from the crypto billionaires they will have a huge advantage with their advertising campaign. Remember the bus with 350 million for the NHS during Brexit campaign?
I question what these people giving vast amounts want. They would have far too much influence over how our country is run.

Think back to Trump's second inauguration. All the people clustered closely around him were the likes of Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc, etc.

The biggest money people on the planet. What does that say about American politics? And it looks like the UK will go the same way, inevitably.

Regarding what crypto billionaires might gain from a Reform government AGAA4 … here’s your answer:

“Reform UK’s proposed Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill says Reform would make the UK a leading crypto hub and introduce:

*10% capital-gains tax on crypto gains, substantially below the higher CGT rates that can currently apply.

*A two-year regulatory sandbox in which selected crypto/blockchain businesses would receive temporary relief from some financial regulations.

*Greater institutional adoption of crypto, including a proposed Bitcoin Reserve Fund at the Bank of England.

*Allowing taxes to be paid in cryptocurrency.

*A generally “light-touch” supervisory approach, while retaining core anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing safeguards.

Nigel Farage has also been very publicly pro-crypto. He has argued that Britain should become a major global crypto hub and has opposed the Bank of England developing a state-backed digital currency (“Britcoin”).

So, Reform’s policy is clearly to loosen regulation and taxation around crypto and encourage much greater adoption, rather than maintain the more cautious regulatory approach favoured by the UK establishment.”

Kind of throws Farage’s claims to be a man of the people out of the window. He will be a man who protects the interests of his billionaire buddies, same as Trump.
Not that I suppose his followers will bat an eyelid. Until it affects them. Just as Trump et al are now losing MAGA support because his supporters are feeling it in their pockets.

I think it will have the opposite effect to the one intended for the undecided voters, because it raises further whiffs of suspicion about the probity of Reform. Convincing the already convinced isn’t going to win them an election if people believe they are being conned, however much they advertise.

I don’t understand why they need the money to provide ‘a level playing field’ when every time I turn on the tv one of their members ( elected or non elected like Yusef) is being ‘interviewed’ ( I use that term loosely; they seem to be given an easy ride by the interviewer). Can anyone explain to me what crypto actually is? It reminds me of the old pyramid selling scams.

Labour are backed financially by the Unions. Not sure by how much. I could look it up I suppose. Conservatives receive ££millions too from wealthy donors.

If it’s legal and logged appropriately I don’t see a problem. Reform UK need the cash. From somewhere - to play along with the big boys.

However Angela Rayner is getting in on the act. She wants to put a cap on donations (on the radio news just now) so this may be a non starter.

I don't think even Angela Rayner can pass retrospective bills in parliament and take money from parties who have already received the money.

Peacelilydilly

I don't think even Angela Rayner can pass retrospective bills in parliament and take money from parties who have already received the money.

I think labour can do this and moneys received will have to be paid back within 60 days.

This is going to be interesting. I’ll get some popcorn in.

The cap is planned to be from March 2026 and allows only £100,000 in donations.

The difference is that trades unions represent over 6 million people.

Delo and Harborne represent themselves, two billionaires.

The legislation to restrict donations is already going through Parliament. This graphic shows what’s in the Bill.

My understanding is:

1. For people who were registered as overseas electors, it reaches back to 25 March 2026.

2. For a person who had been living overseas but was not registered as an overseas elector, the newer provision reaches back to 6 July 2026.

3. If a donor was still resident abroad after 6 July, and is still abroad or subsequently moved back to Britain and then gave made the donation, the Bill as drafted could require the money handed back.

For people who were registered as overseas electors, it applies to overseas donors back to 25 March 2026.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Labour are backed financially by the Unions. Not sure by how much. I could look it up I suppose. Conservatives receive ££millions too from wealthy donors.

If it’s legal and logged appropriately I don’t see a problem. Reform UK need the cash. From somewhere - to play along with the big boys.

However Angela Rayner is getting in on the act. She wants to put a cap on donations (on the radio news just now) so this may be a non starter.

There’s nothing wrong with caps, provided all parties stick to them.

Tbh it wouldn’t matter to me if Reform put a platinum plated leaflet every day until the next GE. I wouldn’t vote Reform if they were the only party.

Just why do Reform this amount of cash?? It far exceeds any donations given to the other parties from anyone?

I think these donors know that there is already a bill going through parliament that will make such donations illegal, and that the bill will be backdated, as that information is in the public domain. They want Reform to succeed, so they are chancing their arms to see if they can get away with it, which is no skin off their noses.

AI tells me this;

“Since the Labour government took office in July 2024, Reform UK has received the highest total amount of donations among all UK political parties by a wide margin.

This is primarily driven by massive, record-breaking individual contributions.

(https://www.facebook.com/TELEGRAPH.CO.UK/posts/nigel-farage-has-declared-that-reform-uk-will-soon-be-ready-to-form-a-government/1540186818155945/)

The major political parties are ranked below in order of the highest total reported donations and public funds received from July 2024 through mid-September 2026:

Reform UKTotal Estimated Intake: Well over £100 million.Key Drivers: The party's funding completely shifted in September 2026 when it secured a combined £72 million in cash donations within a 48-hour window from two cryptocurrency billionaires, Ben Delo (£36m) and Christopher Harborne (£36m).

Prior to this surge, Reform UK was already out-raising other parties in 2026, pulling in £9.9 million

bylinetimes.com/2026/09/10/reform-uk-donations-overwhelmingly-have-overseas-or-tax-haven-ties/)

Labour PartyTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £25 million – £30 million (post-election period only)

Key Drivers: While Labour raised over £42 million across the full calendar year of 2024, the vast majority of that was concentrated in the pre-poll rush before July. Since coming to power, their quarterly donation rates have normalized to typical governing party levels, complemented by a substantial overall revenue from membership fees.

Conservative PartyTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £20 million – £25 million.Key Drivers: After moving into opposition in July 2024, the party's private donation streams slowed compared to their pre-election levels. However, their total intake remains high because they qualify for significant public funding (Short Money and Cranborne grants) allocated to the official opposition.

Liberal DemocratsTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £10 million – £12 million.Key Drivers: The Lib Dems have maintained a steady stream of regulated private donations and localized fundraising. They routinely secure between £2 million and £5 million per tracking period to fund ongoing operations.

Cossy

AI tells me this;

“Since the Labour government took office in July 2024, Reform UK has received the highest total amount of donations among all UK political parties by a wide margin.

This is primarily driven by massive, record-breaking individual contributions.

(https://www.facebook.com/TELEGRAPH.CO.UK/posts/nigel-farage-has-declared-that-reform-uk-will-soon-be-ready-to-form-a-government/1540186818155945/)

The major political parties are ranked below in order of the highest total reported donations and public funds received from July 2024 through mid-September 2026:

Reform UKTotal Estimated Intake: Well over £100 million.Key Drivers: The party's funding completely shifted in September 2026 when it secured a combined £72 million in cash donations within a 48-hour window from two cryptocurrency billionaires, Ben Delo (£36m) and Christopher Harborne (£36m).

Prior to this surge, Reform UK was already out-raising other parties in 2026, pulling in £9.9 million

bylinetimes.com/2026/09/10/reform-uk-donations-overwhelmingly-have-overseas-or-tax-haven-ties/)

Labour PartyTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £25 million – £30 million (post-election period only)

Key Drivers: While Labour raised over £42 million across the full calendar year of 2024, the vast majority of that was concentrated in the pre-poll rush before July. Since coming to power, their quarterly donation rates have normalized to typical governing party levels, complemented by a substantial overall revenue from membership fees.

Conservative PartyTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £20 million – £25 million.Key Drivers: After moving into opposition in July 2024, the party's private donation streams slowed compared to their pre-election levels. However, their total intake remains high because they qualify for significant public funding (Short Money and Cranborne grants) allocated to the official opposition.

Liberal DemocratsTotal Estimated Intake: Roughly £10 million – £12 million.Key Drivers: The Lib Dems have maintained a steady stream of regulated private donations and localized fundraising. They routinely secure between £2 million and £5 million per tracking period to fund ongoing operations.

It does seem weird to me that these billionaires are giving so much to Reform, my opinion is, though I’d like to be proved wrong, that these billionaires expect some return on their money i.e. they would like to be involved in decision making in the party, indeed they see it as an ‘in’ to the kind of politics they agree with and would like to influence/shape.
A pretty scary thought actually.

Fallingstar

I completely agree.

IMO, they will want something in return and I don’t believe the those donations are completely within the rules!