Reform UK receives second £36m donation in two days as crypto-billionaire matches record contribution
It is the second record donation to the party in two days
Crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne has matched the record £36 million donation to Reform UK made by British billionaire Ben Delo.
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Thai-based businessman Christopher Harborne, the party’s biggest donor, said on Saturday he was matching the donation by Ben Delo, revealed on Friday.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Harborne said the donation was “a philanthropic gift to our country” intended to help Reform prepare for government.
He said: “Whilst I have been making donations to Reform of around £1 million a month, Ben Delo told me he was going to make a record donation of £36 million.
“My competitive spirit inspired me to match it, so that is what I’ve done. And I hope others may join us.”
Read more: Reform’s record £36m cash boost puts party on ‘level playing field’, says Tice
Read more: Nigel Farage may be interviewed by police amid Reform donations investigation
The donation means Mr Harborne retains his position as Reform’s largest donor, having already given £9 million to the party last August.
A separate £5 million gift from Mr Harborne to Nigel Farage is also at the centre of an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog after the Reform leader failed to declare it in his register of interests.
In his Telegraph article announcing the donation, the billionaire said the UK needed a “profitable and dynamic economy” to be able to address the three “existential threats” of nuclear war, AI and climate change.
His donation comes after billionaire co-founder of crypto trading platform BitMEX, Ben Delo, gave the party £36 million.
This briefly made him Reform’s largest-ever donor, before Harborne matched this sum.
When speaking to LBC earlier on Saturday, Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said that Delo’s donation may encourage other donors to give to the party.
Tice said the donation would put Reform “on a level playing field” with Labour and the Conservatives.
When asked what the party will do with the millions, Tice said: “It'll allow us to employ campaign managers, as I say, in almost every constituency across the country.
“It will allow us to employ the best, highest-quality researchers, policy people, and to retain the best... And having that confidence, it actually gives other potential donors additional confidence as well.”
Mr Delo, who moved back to the UK from Hong Kong in order to avoid a proposed cap on donations from overseas voters, was pardoned by US President Donald Trump last year after a conviction for violating the US Bank Secrecy Act.
The Telegraph reported he had intended to give Reform £1 million a month up until the next election, but was donating the money in a lump sum in case the Government introduced a cap on all political donations.
MPs last week backed measures including a cap on overseas donations at £100,000 and a suspension of funding through cryptocurrency, but the draft legislation still needs to be passed by the House of Lords to become law.
Backbench calls for a cap on all donations have not been successful.
The twin donations offer Mr Farage’s party a boost after a summer dominated by scrutiny of Reform’s finances, including the launch of a criminal investigation into allegations it breached rules on political donations.
Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and has said it will co-operate fully with the probe.