Crypto investor based in Thailand donates further 3m to Reform

"Christopher Harborne has donated another 3m to Reform UK on top of his record 9m last summer. Nigel Farage's party, which has been topping the polls for more than a year, brought in a huge 5.5m in the last quarter of 2025. It also included a 200,000 donation from JC Bamford Excavators traditionally a Conservative donor which also gave the same sum to the Tories that quarter."

"The huge scale of Harborne's donations, as well as the 20m given by Frank Hester to the Tories before the 2024 election, have led to renewed calls from MPs and campaigners for a cap on political donations. There is also pressure from several Labour select committee chairs for a ban on donations in cryptocurrency."

"Almost 65m in donations was accepted by political parties during 2025. The UK political finance system has high levels of transparency, and we know that voters are interested in where parties get their money from. This publication is an important part of delivering this information for voters. However, we know there are parts of the system that need strengthening, and we have been calling for changes to the law for some time."

Reform UK raised £5.5m in the final quarter of 2025, with Christopher Harborne contributing £3m on top of his previous £9m donation. The party, polling strongly for over a year, received additional support including £200,000 from JC Bamford Excavators. Reform's fundraising substantially exceeded other major parties: Conservatives raised £4m, Liberal Democrats over £2m, and Labour nearly £2m. The Green Party, despite winning a February byelection, received only £290,000. Harborne's substantial donations, alongside Frank Hester's £20m to the Conservatives before 2024, have prompted renewed calls from MPs and campaigners for donation caps and cryptocurrency donation bans. The Electoral Commission reported nearly £65m in total political donations during 2025.

Read at www.theguardian.com