"The government has admitted UK mega-donors are a problem"
Reform UK received a record £36 million donation from British cryptocurrency billionaire Ben Delo. This makes him the biggest political donor in UK history.
Delo has previously given Reform £8 million since the start of 2026.
The massive donation comes as Reform leader Nigel Farage faces a police investigation into overseas funding for the party and a parliamentary standards inquiry into a £5m personal gift from Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne.
In 2022, Delo was convicted in the US after failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls at BitMEX, the cryptocurrency trading platform he co-founded.
He accepted a plea deal and civil fine before being pardoned by US President Donald Trump.
The donation comes amid plans by the UK government to cap political donations from British citizens living overseas or those who have recently returned to the UK.
Under the proposed rules, donors would need to have been resident in the UK for 12 months before being able to give more than £100,000.
Reform previously stated it was confident Delo would not have to return any money under the proposed restrictions.
The party’s growing reliance on mega-donors has also increased pressure on the government to introduce limits on political donations.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously shied away from supporting a cap on all donations, while Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has also backed away from the idea.
More recently, the government said it is considering ways to address mega-donations and prevent a small number of wealthy individuals from having excessive influence over British politics.
Labour MP Stella Creasy said: “The government has admitted UK mega-donors are a problem; donations like this show why we must act and the good news is it’s not too late to do something about them.
“We can still stop these people from distorting the next election by confirming what the cap should be on UK donations in the representation of the people bill in the Lords.
“This donation tonight, more for Reform on one day than the entire amount spent by Labour in the general election, shows that it cannot come too soon to protect British democracy.”
On Delo’s donation, Farage said: “I am honoured and humbled that Ben Delo has shown such confidence in Reform. Ben knows that we are the only party that can turn the country around and reverse Britain’s decline.”
In a Telegraph article in April, Delo highlighted his reasons for supporting Reform.
He described England as his home and argued that “the biggest obstacle to national recovery is the entrenched self-deception of our elites”.
He wrote: “Their regime of nonsense now poses such a grave threat to the UK that, for the first time in my life, I’ve become politically active.”
Delo said he was on the autism spectrum and objected to what he described as government culture forcing people to be “chronically dishonest”.
He cited the expression of views on transgender people as an example.
In the same article, Delo described his history with US regulators and his subsequent pardon.
He wrote: “I helped build one of the world’s first major crypto trading platforms, fell foul of US regulators, accepted a plea bargain and a civil fine for a regulatory failing that isn’t even a crime in the UK, but then ended up being pardoned by Donald Trump, the US president, anyway.”
Ben Delo is an Oxford graduate who describes himself as a champion of free speech. He supports more than 50 organisations across politics and public life.
His political base near Westminster Abbey has also provided support to people and organisations with differing political views.
Delo had provided support to anti-migration MP Rupert Lowe.
He has also connected with more mainstream political figures, including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove.
