Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has secured a record £72 million in political donations over the past 24 hours after two prominent supporters each pledged to give the upstart anti-mass migration party £36 million.
On Friday evening, crypto billionaire Ben Delo announced that he would donate a record £36 million to Reform, dwarfing the previous one-time donation record of £10 to the Conservatives in 2022 by Lord Sainsbury.
Delo argued that both Labour and Conservative establishment parties have had hundreds of years collectively to create political infrastructure across the UK, making it more difficult for outsider parties to challenge the status quo.
“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 the party should spend less time trying to raise funds to compete on equal terms and more time preparing for government,” he wrote in The Telegraph.
Not to be outdone, fellow Reform backer, Christopher Harborne, who also made billions in the cryptocurrency markets, said on Saturday morning that he would match Delo’s record donation and also provide Reform with £36 million.
“If Britain can find its way to economic prosperity, which could better fund healthcare, education, and social care, our country can find its footing again. My donation to Reform is a philanthropic gift to our country,” Harbone said. “Reform, led by Nigel Farage, is the only party that can deliver this.”
Even prior to the two record-breaking donations, Reform had outraised its counterparts this year, with the Farage-led party taking in £14.9 million in the first two quarters of 2026, compared to £10.2 million for the Conservatives and £7.7 million for the governing Labour Party.
However, the Conservatives also benefit significantly from state funding through a system called Short Money, which provides financial assistance to opposition parties in the House of Commons based on the number of parliamentarians they have.
According to The Telegraph, the Tories are set to receive some £5.5m in Short money this year, compared to around £400,000 for Reform.
The establishment parties also have a significant advantage over Reform in terms of long-term funding. Since the party’s founding in 2001 — and prior to the donations from Delo and Harbone — Reform had raised £38 million. During the same time period, the Conservatives raised £150 million, and Labour raised £128 million, meaning that they still retain a financial advantage since 2021 over Reform.
Responding to the record donations, Mr Farage said: “Thanks to the generosity of Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, Reform will now be able to fight and win the next general election on a level playing field. Britain is broken. Only Reform has what it takes to fix it.”
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