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Reform UK has secured a historic donation of £9 million from Christopher Harborne, a cryptocurrency investor and aviation entrepreneur, according to newly released data from the Electoral Commission. This contribution marks the largest single donation ever made by a living individual to a British political party. Harborne, who is British but currently resides in Thailand, has a record of supporting political parties financially, having previously donated substantial amounts to the Conservative Party during Boris Johnson’s leadership as well as to Reform UK’s predecessor, the Brexit Party, between 2019 and 2020.
Although the next general election is scheduled for 2029, this large donation precedes the upcoming local elections set for May next year. Reform UK has shown strong performance in national opinion polls since the spring, indicating growing support. Harborne’s £9 million donation surpasses the previous record set in 2019 by Lord David Sainsbury, who gave £8 million to the Liberal Democrats. Additionally, Lord John Sainsbury left £10 million to the Conservatives in his will in 2022. Harborne’s business interests include AML Global and Sherriff Group, both of which operate in the private aviation sector. Notably, despite Reform leader Nigel Farage’s public endorsement of cryptocurrency and the party’s announcement in May that it would accept Bitcoin donations, Harborne’s latest gift was made in traditional currency rather than crypto.
The Electoral Commission’s recent statistics reveal that Reform UK collected over £10.2 million in donations from July to September, surpassing the Conservatives’ £4.6 million, Labour’s £2.1 million, and the Liberal Democrats’ £1 million during the same period. Aside from Harborne’s donation, the next largest single contribution was a £1 million gift from Jeremy Elliott San, a games programmer and tech entrepreneur, to the Conservatives. Labour’s largest donor was the Unite union, which contributed £362,625, while the Liberal Democrats received £50,000 from Neale Powell-Cook, a food supply business owner. This marks the first quarter since the last general election that Reform has raised more donations than the Conservatives.
A spokesperson for Reform UK highlighted the significance of these figures as evidence of the party’s rapid growth and growing momentum in British politics. Despite this, the overall donations to the Conservative Party since July 2024 still exceed those for Reform, standing at approximately £14.4 million compared to Reform’s £13.5 million. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described Harborne’s donation as a “one-off” and expressed satisfaction with recent fundraising trends, emphasizing the broad base of Conservative supporters. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat spokesperson Lisa Smart criticized the large donations, suggesting they create an uneven playing field in elections. Under electoral regulations, all political donations over £11,180 must be reported to the Electoral Commission. Additionally, opposition parties receive public funding for their parliamentary activities, allocated based on their election performance; Reform received £227,835 between July and September, considerably less than the Conservatives’ £2.3 million and the Liberal Democrats’ £1 million
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