Who is Christopher Harborne? The Thailand-based businessman who donated £36m to Nigel Farage's Reform UK

Nigel Farage ’s Reform UK received the two largest donations in British political history over the weekend.

Crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne each donated Reform £36 million , dramatically reshaping the landscape of political funding in Britain.

The combined £72 million is more than the total received by all UK political parties last year.

And it means that in 2026, Reform has now raked in around £86 million, compared to around £7 million raised by both Labour and the Conservatives.

The donations come after Mr Harborne donated Reform £9 million in August last year , in what was the largest single donation from a living individual to a UK political party in history at the time.

But who is Christopher Harborne, and why is he gifting Reform so much money?

Christopher Harborne is a British businessman and investor in his early 60s.

Based in Thailand , he holds Thai citizenship under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit.

He was educated at Westminster School, the elite private institution in the surrounds of Westminster Abbey before going on to Downing College, Cambridge.

Mr Harborne described himself on his LinkedIn profile as an "engineer, pilot and investor".

He is well-known an aviation entrepreneur and has made significant wealth running and investing in companies.

Two of his businesses - AML Global and Sherriff Group - are linked to aircraft and aviation and he reportedly controls aviation-fuel supply and private-jet operations through these businesses.

He is also described as a “technology investor”, including in crypto currencies.

Additionally, Harborne has had a stake in the defence tech firm Qinetiq, which reportedly garners around 80% of its arms-related revenue via Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracts.