Reform UK has taken in a record £72 million in political donations within a single 24-hour span, after two wealthy backers each pledged £36 million to Nigel Farage’s insurgent party.
Crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo announced Friday evening that he would give £36 million to Reform, a sum that far exceeds the previous largest single donation in British politics: £10 million given to the Conservatives by Lord Sainsbury in 2022.
Delo framed his gift as an attempt to level a political playing field he argues has long favored Labour and the Conservatives, parties he says have had centuries combined to build entrenched infrastructure that shuts out challengers.
“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,” Delo wrote in The Telegraph.
Less than a day later, fellow crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne matched Delo’s donation, pledging his own £36 million to Reform on Saturday morning.
“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,” Harborne said. “Reform, led by Nigel Farage, is the only party that can deliver this.”
A widening fundraising gap
Even before the two mega-donations landed, Reform had already outpaced its rivals in fundraising this year. The party brought in £14.9 million during the first two quarters of 2026, compared with £10.2 million for the Conservatives and £7.7 million for the governing Labour Party.
But the established parties still enjoy structural advantages Reform does not. Opposition parties in the House of Commons receive taxpayer-funded support known as Short Money, distributed according to how many MPs a party holds. The Conservatives are expected to collect roughly £5.5 million in Short Money this year, versus about £400,000 for Reform, according to The Telegraph.
The gap widens further when looking at the long term. Since Reform’s founding in 2001, and before the Delo and Harborne donations, the party had raised £38 million in total. Over that same stretch, the Conservatives raised £150 million and Labour raised £128 million — meaning both legacy parties retain a substantial financial edge despite Reform’s recent windfall.
Farage credited the two donors for closing that gap. “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,” he said. “Britain is broken. Only Reform has what it takes to fix it.”
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