Two entrepreneurs have made a historic donation to Nigel Farage's "Reform UK" party. For the British right-wing populists, however, the financial injection comes at a very delicate moment for them.
This is a record donation for the right-wing populist party "Reform UK": 72 million British pounds (84 million euros), donated by crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christoph Harborn. With this, the party collected as many donations in two days as all other British parties received in the entire past year, notes the ARD.
The largest donation to a party in the history of the United Kingdom was made last year by another crypto billionaire - Christopher Harborne. Then he donated nine million pounds - also to “Reform UK”, writes the German “Die Zeit”.
Investigations into donations to Farage
However, the situation is not that simple. The multi-million donation to “Reform UK” has brought the discussions around the party, which have been causing it problems in recent months, back into the spotlight. The party's leader Nigel Farage is due to give an explanation to a parliamentary inquiry into a £5m donation that was not declared.
An investigation has also revealed that members of the party tried to attract large donors from abroad - even though this is prohibited in the UK, recalls the ARD. And now donations from two crypto billionaires who, although they are British citizens, have until recently lived abroad and paid tax there. Should they be allowed to donate such amounts?
New legislation could prevent the donation
If the bill, which is currently being discussed in both houses of the British parliament, is passed, politicians will not be able to accept the donation. The new rules aim to regulate donations and the influence of donors more strictly.
In an interview with the BBC, civil servant Philip Rycroft explained: “The law will include a cap for British donors who live abroad. But there will be guidelines that, if they return to the UK, they will have to have lived here for a period of time to be able to donate larger amounts - probably a whole calendar year.”
British citizens living abroad will not be allowed to donate more than £100,000. If the law is passed, it will come into effect retroactively from March 2026. This could threaten the record donation to “Reform UK”.
The party's deputy leader Richard Tice sees this as a campaign against the party. “We acted in accordance with the current legislation. It is clear how much this socialist government fears “Reform UK”, if it now wants to change the rules on donations retrospectively, just to put a party that simply wants to have the same opportunities as Labour in a bad position.”
Controversial donors
Critics fear that the donation will threaten the democratic process - and because “Reform UK” plans, if it comes to power, to take measures from which the crypto sector would benefit, notes the ARD.
In addition, the two donors who amassed their fortunes with cryptocurrencies are controversial. Ben Delo was convicted in the US in 2021 because his company failed to comply with the measures provided for by law against money laundering. He had already donated £4m to Reform UK in the spring and returned to the UK as the party donations bill gained momentum.
Christopher Harborne, who lived in Thailand for many years and now holds dual citizenship, is responsible for the £5m donation, which is why a parliamentary committee is currently investigating Nigel Farage.
Labour and union donations
Reform UK sees no problem with large donations: after all, the ruling Labour Party also receives financial support from unions, which also pursue their own agenda. The union's spokesman Paul Novak considers this comparison to be misleading, as he explained in an interview with the BBC: “We are an open, democratic organisation that represents millions of workers in this country. All decisions about donations are made by our members – all this happens in public."
On the other hand, if millions are being donated by individuals who are clearly pursuing their own interests, this should be subject to critical analysis, says Nowak. “No one can seriously think that it is good for the super-rich to simply bribe British politics. I don't think anyone here thinks that it is good for our democracy - except perhaps Nigel Farage and Richard Tice.”
The new political donations law must go through several readings in the House of Lords and House of Commons. However, a spokesman for the Prime Minister has already announced that further restrictions on party donations are being worked on.