Christopher Harborne has contributed an additional £3 million to Reform UK, adding to the £9 million he gave last summer.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has led the opinion polls for over a year, recorded £5.5 million in donations in the final quarter of 2025. The sum also comprised a £200,000 gift from JC Bamford Excavators – a long‑time Conservative supporter – which matched the amount the party gave to the Tories in the same period.
Harborne’s latest gifts will swell Reform UK’s finances ahead of the May local elections, where Farage hopes to improve the party’s standing in Wales and across England’s council contests.
Harborne, an investor based in Thailand with interests in aviation and cryptocurrency, previously supplied £10 million to the Brexit Party for its 2019 campaign and £1 million to Boris Johnson’s office after his resignation.
By comparison, the Conservative Party received £4 million in donations, the Liberal Democrats more than £2 million and Labour close to £2 million.
The Green Party, which secured the Gorton and Denton by‑election in February, attracted only £290,000 in contributions, while Your Party, led in Parliament by Jeremy Corbyn, obtained £670,000.
The magnitude of Harborne’s gifts, together with the £20 million donated by Frank Hester to the Conservatives before the 2024 election, has revived calls from MPs and campaigners for a ceiling on political donations. Several Labour select‑committee chairs are also urging a prohibition on cryptocurrency donations.
Commenting on the data, Jackie Killeen, director of regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “Around £65 million in donations was received by political parties during 2025. The UK’s political finance framework is highly transparent, and voters want to know the sources of party funding. Publishing these figures is a key part of providing that information to the electorate.
“Nevertheless, we recognise aspects of the system need reinforcement, and we have long advocated legislative reform. The government’s proposed changes in the Representation of the People Bill could tighten donation controls and bolster public confidence in political financing. We will keep working with the government to ensure any reforms are evidence‑based and practical.”
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