Reform UK handed biggest donation from a living person, figures show

Reform UK recently received the biggest single donation in history to a political party from a living person, official figures show.

Data released by the Electoral Commission reveals parties in the UK received £24 million in total donations between July and the end of September, with donations to Nigel Farage’s party totalling £10.5 million.

This included £9 million from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman who made the donation on August 1.

Reform UK’s total donations were the largest of any party during the period, followed by the Conservative Party which received just under £7 million.

Labour received £2.5 million, and donations totalling just over £2 million were given to the Liberal Democrats.

The largest single donation to a political party in the UK in history was the £10 million left to the Conservative Party by Lord Sainsbury in his will in 2022.

Mr Harborne is a cryptocurrency investor and aviation entrepreneur who lives in Thailand.

He has previously donated large sums to the Brexit Party and the Conservatives under Boris Johnson’s leadership.

Lady Rothermere, the wife of Lord Rothermere who is the chairman of the media conglomerate which publishes the Daily Mail newspaper and has agreed to purchase the Telegraph, donated £50,000 to Reform UK on September 30.

This is the first time the family have donated to a political party, Electoral Commission archives show.

Speaking at a press conference in Westminster, Mr Farage said Mr Harborne wants “nothing in return” for his donation to Reform UK.

Asked why the British businessman spends so much time in Thailand, the Reform leader said: “Because that’s where he’s been based for some of his business activities for many, many years… his natural home is here.

“His donation is nothing out of the blue. It’s nothing new. I mean, after all… he was a dedicated Brexiteer. He gave a significant amount of money to the Brexit Party at the time.

“I think what he wants to do, really, is to try and help us get on to a level playing field with the trade union-funded Labour Party and a Conservative Party where there seems to be a remarkable correlation, I can’t think why, between donations and membership of the House of Lords.”

Mr Farage continued: “Does he want anything in return for his money? I promise you absolutely nothing. Do I speak to him regularly? Maybe once a month, maybe once every six weeks, but certainly not more than that.”

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “This quarter’s figures show the incredible progress Reform UK is making.

“This is further evidence that we have all the momentum in British politics.”

The total party donations represented a significant increase on the same period last year and the previous quarter.

Between July and September 2024 parties collectively received a total of £10 million and just over £11 million between April and June this year.

The Conservatives’ latest largest single donation was £1 million from Jeremy Elliott San, a game programmer and tech entrepreneur.

Labour’s biggest donor was the Unite union with £362,625, while the Liberal Democrats’ largest contributor was Neale A Powell-Cook with a donation of £50,000.

Commenting on the figures, Jackie Killeen, director of electoral administration and regulation at the Electoral Commission, said: “The UK political finance system has high levels of transparency, and we know that voters are interested in where parties get their money from.

“This quarterly publication is an important part of delivering this information for voters.

“However, we know there are parts of the system that need strengthening, and we have been calling for changes to the law for some time.

“The UK Government’s proposed reforms to the political finance regime have the potential to improve the strength of donation controls and help ensure voters can have confidence in the political finance system.

“We will continue to work with the Government so that any changes are evidence based and workable in practice.”

Published: 04/12/2025 by Radio NewsHub