Reform UK has secured an unprecedented £72 million cash injection in just 48 hours, after a second cryptocurrency investor matched a record-breaking donation to the party.
The party announced on Saturday, 12 September 2026, that Christopher Harborne had donated £36 million. The move follows an identical £36 million gift from Ben Delo on Friday, which was cited as the largest single donation ever given to a UK political party by a living person.
The combined £72 million total significantly alters the financial landscape of British politics. According to Electoral Commission figures released earlier this month, Reform UK had already out-raised both Labour and the Conservatives in the second quarter of 2026, securing £5.4 million before these latest record gifts were confirmed.
Spending plans and legal scrutiny
Reform UK has indicated that the funds will be used to professionalise its electoral machine, with plans to hire 400 campaign managers in target constituencies across the country.
However, the scale of the funding has drawn immediate scrutiny. While there are currently no legal caps on the amount a UK-based individual can donate to a political party, general election spending for parties is capped at approximately £34 million. This has led to questions regarding how the surplus £38 million will be utilised outside of the formal election period.
The donations also arrive amid two separate investigations into the party’s leadership and finances. The Metropolitan Police is currently investigating Reform UK’s financial records, while Nigel Farage faces a parliamentary standards inquiry.
Ben Delo, the co-founder of the BitMEX exchange, was previously convicted in the United States for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering programme, before receiving a pardon from Donald Trump in 2025.
Calls for ‘mega-donor’ caps
The development has placed Prime Minister Andy Burnham under pressure to accelerate reforms to political funding. While the government has established a taskforce to examine the influence of “mega-donors”, the recently introduced Representation of the People Bill did not include a specific cap on individual donations.
Opposition MPs from the Labour and Liberal Democrat benches have called for an immediate £100,000 limit on gifts to prevent what they describe as a “corruption risk” in the democratic process.
According to ITV News, transparency groups have warned that the current system allows individuals to exert disproportionate influence over national policy.
The party maintains that all donations have been handled in accordance with existing Electoral Commission rules regarding UK residency and donor eligibility.
