Reform UK received a total of £7 million (€8.1 million) from crypto billionaires in the first quarter of 2026, including a £3 million donation from Nigel Farage’s biggest backer Christopher Harborne.Reform also received £4 million from cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo, who has said he will move back to the UK from Hong Kong – where he has lived since 2012 – to financially support Farage’s party.The British government announced in March it would impose a £100,000 annual cap on political donations from Britons living abroad. Harborne, who is based in Thailand and made his latest donation before the law changed, has said he will find a way to circumvent the cap, by either challenging it in court or moving back to the UK.Farage is under investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over a £5 million cash gift he received from Harborne two months before the 2024 general election, which he failed to declare in his register of MPs’ interests. Farage has said the money was a gift and unrelated to his political activities, so did not need to be registered. The donations underscore how Reform remains extremely financially reliant on a handful of billionaire donors who are helping it significantly outstrip the fundraising efforts of Labour and the Conservative Party.In total, Reform received £9.2 million in the first quarter of the year. The Conservatives received £4 million and Labour received £3.9 million, albeit from a much broader base of donors.Reform is leading opinion polls with about 25 per cent of public support, compared with the Conservatives on 18 per cent and Labour and the Greens on 17 per cent.Reform also received £1.1 million from biotech entrepreneur David John Grainger, and a further £150,000 from former Conservative donor Bassim Haidar, who has been a major donor to Farage’s party since last year.Navroz D Udwadia, the co-founder of asset manager Alpha Wave, gave the party £250,000.[ Starmer condemns ‘disgraceful’ attacks on police after Henry Nowak murder caseOpens in new window ]The Tories benefited from a £1.1 million bequest as well as £250,000 from property developer and entrepreneur Kamal Pankhania.Labour received £550,000 from long-time backer Lord David Sainsbury, and also from businessman Gary Lubner.It also received £250,000 from Danny Luhde-Thompson, the co-founder of British hedge fund Quadrature Capital.The Green Party, by contrast, received just £250,000 in donations. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026