Nigel Farage says his home was firebombed last year

Nigel Farage has revealed his home was targeted in a firebombing attack last year, and that he has received a personal gift of around £5 million for his security from a Reform UK mega donor.

The Reform UK leader said a lit device was shoved through his letterbox in early 2025 in an “outright arson attempt” when he was not in.

He found the damage when he returned home and “luckily it had burned itself out in the porch”.

Police investigated but have not identified any suspects.

“There are huge dangers in this job,” Mr Farage told The Telegraph while campaigning for the May 7 local elections.

“I’m acutely aware of the love for me, but equally the levels of antipathy that exist.”

He said he was speaking about the attack for the first time because he had been concerned that doing so earlier would force him to boost his safety measures further.

Other incidents that went unreported included “pints of beer being thrown over me” and having to “write off a car once because it was attacked by protesters when I was in it”.

The Clacton MP said: “I would rather not be discussing any of this but I am having to because someone has got hold of material about my private finances, which is outrageous, and which I believe was illegally obtained.”

Christopher Harborne, a British businessman who handed Reform the biggest single donation in history to a political party from a living person, gave Mr Farage a seven-figure sum to fund his security in 2024, before he re-entered politics.

“This money was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life,” Mr Farage told the newspaper.

“I have tried and failed in the past to get security funded by the Home Office and I don’t think the state will ever help me.

“I’m very much on my own and will be for the rest of my life, and I have to face up to that grim reality.

“Christopher is an ardent supporter who is deeply concerned for my safety.”

The party’s war chest was bolstered by a £9 million donation from Mr Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor, last August, and he has given millions more since and previously.

Mr Harborne is understood to have separately given Mr Farage a gift of around £5 million, according to The Telegraph, meaning it was not taxed or declared as it did not count as a political donation.

Mr Farage said it followed his unsuccessful attempt to secure Home Office-funded security in 2019 and after Mr Harborne became concerned about his level of protection when a milkshake was thrown at him.