Reform receives record £36m donation from cryptocurrency billionaire

Reform receives record £36m donation from crypto billionaire

Ben Delo Foundation

Reform UK has received a £36m donation from a British cryptocurrency billionaire – a record for a UK political party.

Ben Delo wrote in the Daily Telegraph that he was making the gift because he wanted a “fair fight and a level playing field”.

The sum is the biggest single donation ever given to a political party in the UK. Party leader Nigel Farage said he was “honoured and humbled” by the gift.

Reform is facing scrutiny over its finances, as the government seeks to limit the amount that can be donated to UK political parties from British expats.

Delo said he was donating £1m a month between now and the latest date Labour could call a general election in 2029 – but that he would give all the money up front in case the government tried to limit mega-donations in future.

There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money UK-based donors can give to political parties.

But Labour previously introduced a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens who are living overseas and plan to introduce one for those who have recently returned to the UK.

The prime minister recently indicated that he was open to more rule changes on political donations, but Delo’s donation is not being seen inside government as a significant turning point in the debate about further regulation.

Sheffield-born Delo, who has already donated £4m to Reform, has previously said he will move back to the UK from Hong Kong to continue his backing for the party.

Last year, he was given an unconditional pardon by US President Donald Trump over a breach of anti-money laundering laws at his crypto trading platform, BitMEX, to which he had pleaded guilty in 2022.

He wrote in the Telegraph: “Unlike the people who express mock concern for the health of ‘our democracy’ while doing everything they can to keep it as a cartel, I want a fair fight and a level playing field.

“My conclusion from Reform’s recent troubles is that they should spend less time trying to raise funds to compete on equal terms and more time preparing for government.”

Reform’s fundraising has been under scrutiny, with police announcing an investigation on Thursday over allegations it broke foreign funding laws, following a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week.

An undercover reporter recorded two senior Reform aides apparently suggesting a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations.

The party denied any wrongdoing and said it would co-operate with the investigation.

Farage is also under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5m cash gift he received from Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne ahead of the 2024 election.

Farage has argued that he was under no obligation to register the “purely private” gift, as it was unrelated to his parliamentary or political activities.

The Metropolitan Police is also investigating whether payments to Reform in the weeks before the last election complied with donation laws.

The police inquiry is looking at donations given directly to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longstanding Farage ally George Cottrell.

It is also examining payments from a company controlled by Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, which received £1m from Fiona Cottrell in June 2024.

Restrictions on donations from Britons living abroad prompted a furious row with Reform and its key donors, who have accused Labour of trying to stymie their party’s progress. A cabinet minister has said British democracy was “not for sale”.

The government has also sought to prevent expats who return to the UK from giving more than £100,000 for a year after their arrival as part of the Representation of the People Bill, which has its second reading in the Lords on Monday.

Last year, Harborne gave a single donation of £9m to Reform – which at the time was the biggest single donation to a UK political party by a living person.

The Conservatives had received £10m as a legacy but that too has been eclipsed by Delo’s latest donation.

Responding to Delo’s donation, a Labour Party spokesperson said Farage was “still up to his neck in scandal” and “the questions he faces aren’t going away – in fact they’re piling up”.

“Reform UK can’t buy their way out of questions about sleaze, criminal mates and dodgy finances,” they said.

“It’s time Farage and Reform finally came clean with the public, co-operated fully with the police, and proved they’re not just in it for themselves.”

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart said Farage wanted to “bring Trump’s America to our shores by buying his way into power”.

“He’s trying to get into Number 10 as if it’s a stop on a Monopoly board,” she added. “It can’t go on like this. Andy Burnham needs to introduce a cap on political donations. Our democracy depends on it.”

Source: www.bbc.com