Calls for change in party donation rules as Reform UK starts with huge financial advantage

Martin Shipton

A transparency campaign group is calling for a tightening of party donation rules as next May’s Senedd election approaches in which Reform UK will have a massive financial advantage over its longer established rivals.

Opinion polls suggest that the battle for the most seats will be between Reform and Plaid Cymru.

Yet while the total amount in documented donations to Plaid Cymru since the Electoral Commission was set up in 2001 is £3,326,556.21, Reform received in September 2025 a single donation of £9m from the businessman Christopher Harborne.

Since it came into being in April 2019 when the Brexit Party changed its name, Reform’s declared donations total £30,355,847.16.

Matt Gallagher of the campaign group Open Britain said: “Who is Christopher Harborne? Very little is publicly known about the reclusive, Thailand-based technology investor – except that he is now one of the biggest political donors in British history.

“His record £9m donation to Reform UK is only the latest in a long trail of donations to right-wing populists.

“Harborne previously poured more than £10m (across multiple donations) into Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, and was also a major financial backer of Boris Johnson – donating regularly to the Conservatives and even handing £1m to Johnson’s private office after he left Downing Street.

“While Harborne styles himself a ‘digital nomad’ living quietly in Thailand (where he has adopted the name Chankrit Sakunkrit), his money leads back to a company raising more than a few red flags: Tether, the hugely profitable cryptocurrency firm in which he is an influential shareholder.

“Tether issues the world’s largest ‘stablecoin’ – a digital token designed to match the value of the US dollar. The company claims each token is backed by real-world assets such as cash and US government bonds, yet it has never produced a full, independent audit of its reserves and has been fined by regulators for misleading statements about its backing. It has also faced persistent allegations that its tokens have been used to facilitate money laundering, Russian sanctions evasion, and other illicit activity.

“Despite this, Tether has become one of the most powerful players in the global crypto industry, with tens of billions of dollars’ worth of tokens in circulation – and enormous profits flowing to its shareholders.

“This matters because the cryptocurrency industry is now exerting unparalleled influence over politics globally. Crypto firms dominated political donations during the 2024 US presidential election, contributing more than $270m to both major parties. Tether has been particularly generous to Donald Trump, while the sitting US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, is one of its most prominent backers.

“Harborne’s donation to Reform UK suggests a similar dynamic may now be taking hold in Britain. Trump has used the power of the US state to benefit Tether and other major crypto players – and Nigel Farage has made clear he intends to follow suit, telling the Digital Asset Summit in London this October: ‘When it comes to your industry, when it comes to growth in this industry, then I am your champion. We will effectively bring crypto in from the cold.’”

Cryptocurrency

Gallagher added: “Reform UK is already the first British party to accept donations in cryptocurrency, raising serious questions about compliance with election laws designed to prevent foreign funding. And it’s hard to ignore the context, there: the party’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, has just been sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for Kremlin-linked bribery, while allegations persist that Tether tokens have been used to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

“In the wake of Harborne’s recent mega-donation, scrutiny of Reform UK’s finances is only growing. The National newspaper in Scotland recently reported that several six-figure donors to the party are effectively unknown individuals – under current election law, they are required to disclose little more than their names and the size of their cheques. It’s reasonable to wonder what hidden strings may be attached.

“Reform UK, once again, stands as an extraordinary case study in the failures of UK campaign finance laws. At the very least, we must urgently ban donations in cryptocurrency, as Keir Starmer has signalled he might seek to do in the forthcoming Elections Bill.

“But we can and should dream a bit bigger than that. Is it right that a largely unaccountable industry can anoint its political ‘champion’ and bankroll them to the tune of tens of millions of pounds? Is it acceptable that foreign-based billionaires can pour money into British politics with minimal scrutiny? And is it sustainable for a democracy to allow unlimited donations, opaque funding structures, and loopholes that invite abuse?

“We are campaigning hard for a robust, modern system of campaign finance – one that caps donations, bans crypto and other high-risk funding routes, demands real transparency, and ensures political power is earned at the ballot box, not bought behind closed doors.

“If we are to close these loopholes and protect our democracy from dark money and undue influence, we need to build the public pressure that forces change. There is an Elections Bill coming down the pipeline that offers an unprecedented – likely a once-in-a-decade – opportunity to make this system fairer and more secure.”

Potential donors visiting Reform UK’s website are given an option of donating with bitcoin. A statement on the website says: “Reform UK may accept a donation only from a permissible donor and where the identity of the donor is known. We ask you to provide information so that we can perform the required checks.”