Reform receives record £36m donation from crypto billionaire

Reform has received a record £36 million donation from a cryptocurrency billionaire, according to the latest disclosure. The contribution comes amid heightened scrutiny of the party’s fundraising practices, with police announcing an investigation into allegations that Reform violated overseas‑backing laws following a Channel 4 News broadcast last week. Reform denied any wrongdoing and said it would cooperate fully with the inquiry. Nigel Farage is also under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5 million currency acquisition received from Thailand‑based crypto investor Christopher Harborne before the 2024 general election, when he stood as an MP candidate. Farage maintains that the gift was “purely private” and unrelated to his parliamentary or governmental duties, arguing he was under no obligation to register it. The Metropolitan Police is additionally examining whether payments made to Reform in the weeks preceding the last election complied with donation legislation. The probe includes donations given directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longtime Farage associate George Cottrell. Investigators are also reviewing payments from a company controlled by Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, which received £1 million from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024. Restrictions on donations from Britons living abroad have sparked a fierce response from Reform and its major donors, who accuse Labour of attempting to impede the party’s progress. The government has also moved to prevent overseas voters who relocate to the UK from contributing more than £100,000 in the year after their arrival, a measure embedded in the Representation of the People Bill that will receive its second reading in the House of Lords on Monday. Last year Harborne donated a single £9 million sum to Reform – at the time the largest individual donation ever made to a UK political party by a living person. The Conservatives had previously received a £10 million bequest, but that figure has now been surpassed by the latest crypto‑billionaire contribution. Responding to the news, a Labour Party spokesperson said Farage was “still up to his neck in scandal” and that “the questions he faces aren’t going away – in fact they’re piling up.” The spokesperson added, “Reform UK can’t buy their way out of questions about sleaze, cronyism and dodgy finances. It’s time Farage and Reform came clean with the public, cooperated fully with the police, and proved they’re not just in it for themselves.” Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart remarked that Farage seeks to “bring Trump’s America to our shores by buying his way into power.” She continued, “He’s trying to get into Number 10 as if it’s a stop on a monopoly board. It can’t continue like this. Andy Burnham needs to put a cap on political donations. Our democracy depends on it.”