Second crypto billionaire donates record $49m to far-right Reform UK - Al Jazeera

A second British billionaire has made a record donation of almost $49m to the far-right Reform UK party, matching the amount pledged by another businessman the day before.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph British newspaper on Saturday, donor Christopher Harborne said the $48.7m (£36m) donation was a “philanthropic gift” to the country, adding that he felt “inspired” to match the contribution made by fellow billionaire Ben Delo 24 hours earlier.

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Sixty-three-year-old Harborne is a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor and Delo, 42, is the co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange.

Both donations bring the total sum of money pledged to Reform since Friday to $97m.

They coincide with a flurry of questions surrounding the party’s finances, with London’s Metropolitan Police confirming earlier this week the launch of a criminal investigation into whether Reform accepted illegal foreign donations.

Reform’s leader Nigel Farage celebrated the contributions in a post on X.

“You know what Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne want? Nothing,” Farage said.

“Just a government that will fix Britain. And that’s what Reform UK will deliver,” he added.

The leader of the right-wing Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, criticised Reform, accusing Farage and his colleagues of lacking integrity.

“Sometimes a bigger cheque just means you make more of the same mistakes. The Conservatives are up for the fight.”

Reform has emerged as a major political force in the UK. However, the latest polling data suggests that the party has lost some voters since left-leaning Andy Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister and Labour Party leader.

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Camille Nedelec said both of Reform’s latest donors believe they are making British politics fairer.

“One of the reasons that Ben Delo gave for this huge record-breaking donation was to level the political playing field,” Nedelec said.

“That’s certainly a sentiment echoed by fellow billionaire Christopher Harborne, who compared Reform UK to a startup in need of a boost, because unlike the mainstream political parties, it doesn’t benefit from this inbuilt infrastructure of financial support and recurring donations.

“They certainly see this as a way of making British politics fairer. If we zoom out, Reform historically has had very few donations compared to the mainstream political parties,” she added.

Reform is the successor to Farage’s Brexit Party, which changed its name to Reform in 2021. Farage, who played a significant role in the Brexit movement, has long portrayed himself as an anti-establishment figure and has experienced a surge in popularity as voters grow increasingly disillusioned with the Conservatives and Labour. The two parties have historically dominated British politics, but a dramatic decline in living standards in recent years has fuelled demand for alternatives.