Harborne, based in Thailand, and Trump-pardoned Delo each gave £36m
Reform UK received £72 million in donations within 24 hours, with Robert Jenrick describing the windfall in a Sky News interview as a “breakthrough moment” for the party “from two patriotic businessmen.” The two £36 million donations came from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, both described as crypto billionaires in The Guardian’s live coverage of the interview.
The Guardian noted that Harborne has lived outside the UK for years and is based in Thailand. Delo, who until recently lived in Hong Kong, was convicted of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act before being pardoned by President Donald Trump last year.
Jenrick framed the money as positioning Reform for the next general election campaign, telling Sky News the donations “enables us to be battle ready for the election and to prepare for government.”
Asked whether the size of the cheques meant Reform was “in hoc” with the crypto billionaires, Jenrick rejected the characterisation. He also said the donations would not buy the donors peerage or any other formal favours.
The Guardian’s live coverage noted that the scale of the donations had already drawn questions about whether the sums would leave Reform “in hoc” with its major funders and whether they would buy peerage or other formal favours.