Christopher Harborne matches £36m Reform donation of Ben Delo

Party leader, Nigel Farage, ‘humbled’ by contributions from billionaires as Harborne addresses ‘media speculation’

The cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne has given £36m to Reform UK, matching a donation from fellow billionaire Ben Delo .

The pledges mean Reform has received a cash injection of £72m in just 24 hours. They are jointly the largest donations made to a UK political party and have intensified calls for restrictions on funding from individual donors.

Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage , said he was “honoured and humbled” by the payments, which come at a time when the party is facing intense scrutiny regarding its funding.

The Metropolitan police is conducting an inquiry into Reform’s finances and Farage is facing a parliamentary standards investigation into a £5m gift from Harborne, made before he was first elected an MP in 2024. Reform UK and Farage have denied any wrongdoing.

After Harborne’s donation was announced on Saturday afternoon, Bridget Phillipson, chair of the Labour party, said that Farage couldn’t “buy his way out of the sleaze and scandal he and Reform UK are drowning in – or the multiple police investigations that are ongoing into Reform’s dodgy finances”.

Rachel Millward, the deputy leader of the Green party in England and Wales, accused the prime minister, Andy Burnham, of “flip flopping” on a cap on domestic donations . Burnham, who previously appeared supportive of a cap, has faced lobbying from trade unions who fear restrictions would inhibit their ability to donate to the Labour party.

The Labour MP Stella Creasy tabled an amendment to the representation of the people bill, which is progressing through parliament and has its second reading in the Lords on Monday.

Creasy proposed an annual cap of £100,000 on most domestic donations. Although it attracted the support of 60 MPs from various parties, it was not put to a vote.

“The Labour party urgently needs to find a spine and support a tight cap on donations from individuals,” Millward said.

Announcing the new donation on Saturday, Farage said that Delo and Harborne “know that we are the only party that can turn the country around and win the next general election – thanks to their generosity, we are now able to fight that election on a level playing field.”

Harborne said: “There will be a lot of media speculation regarding this donation. So what do I expect in return for my donations? Nothing. No peerage, no policy change, just a party that is ready for government.

“I have already accumulated enough wealth for the rest of my life. I am committed to putting that to work for Britain and humanity as a whole. I want the same as everyone else in Britain: for my children and grandchildren to have the chance to live happy and productive lives here and be rewarded for their hard work.

“At the next general election, people will have to vote for the party that they think will best get that done and I’m making a donation very clearly to the party that I believe will do so.”