Reform UK receives two £36m donations, totaling £72m

Government considers cap on overseas political donations

Reform UK said it received two £36 million donations over the weekend, totaling £72 million. Before the latest gifts, the party had reported raising £30.5 million since the start of the year, more than double its nearest rival. The party said the money would be used to hire additional policy staff and up to 400 campaign managers in target seats around the country.

The two donations emerged during a difficult stretch for Reform, which has faced a dip in opinion polls, internal disagreements and repeated questions about its funding. BBC political correspondent Jack Fenwick reported that the timing of the gifts felt as though Nigel Farage’s inner circle was attempting a fightback.

By contrast, the mood within the ranks of Labour and the Conservatives has been more buoyant. Most Labour MPs felt Andy Burnham had made an impressive start since becoming prime minister, while many Conservatives felt confident in Kemi Badenoch’s recent reshuffle of her top team.

The additional £72 million takes the party into what the BBC described as uncharted financial territory.

Some figures in Westminster have questioned Burnham’s insistence that he will not call an early general election, suggesting it might be tempting to go to the polls before Farage can deploy the new funds on a campaign machine. But one Number 10 source insisted the donations do not make an early election any more likely.

Burnham is likely to come under increasing pressure to tighten the rules on party donations. Labour is already planning to introduce a cap on the amount of money a British citizen living overseas can donate.

There has been speculation about whether the planned cap would affect donations to Reform from cryptocurrency billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo. When interviewed by the BBC, Angela Rayner refused to say whether the two would be caught up in the rule changes.

The Liberal Democrats and the Greens have also called for a cap on donations from people based in Britain, to prevent future large individual gifts. Burnham has indicated he is open to that conversation but chose not to support an effort by some Labour MPs earlier this month to tighten the rules. Rayner confirmed on Sunday morning that the cap remained under consideration by ministers.

The Electoral Commission is reviewing what more should be done in this area. Government sources said this weekend’s donations are not being viewed inside Downing Street as a game-changing moment in the debate. But the BBC reported that people across the political spectrum are asking whether the £72 million injection will be remembered as a key moment when British politics changed.