Reform leads other parties in donations ahead of May elections

Reform UK received more than £5.4m in large donations in the final three months of last year, more than any other political party, new figures from the Electoral Commission show.

This included another big donation of £3m from cryptocurrency investor and aviation entrepreneur Christopher Harborne.

However, even without this sum Nigel Farage's party still raised more than the Conservatives, who received £2.4m in donations, Labour, who received £1.9m, and the Liberal Democrats, who received £1.3m during the period.

The boost in Reform's finances comes ahead of crucial May elections in Scotland, Wales and around 130 English councils.

Reform has been consistently leading in national opinion polls since last spring, although its popularity has dipped slightly since the start of the year to its lowest level since April 2025.

In August, Harborne made a record £9m donation to Reform, the largest ever single sum given by a living person to a British political party.

The businessman, who is British but lives in Thailand, has previously given large sums to the Conservatives under Boris Johnson's leadership, as well as Reform's predecessor the Brexit Party in 2019 and 2020.

Farage has been a supporter of cryptocurrency, announcing last year that his party would be the first in the UK to accept donations in Bitcoin.

Harborne's donations were not in cryptocurrency.

The next biggest donations received by Reform between October and December 2025 were £250,000 from biotech entrepreneur David Grainger, and £250,000 from double glazing businessman Gary Dutton.

It is the second quarter in a row since the 2024 general election that Reform has received more in donations than the Conservatives.

The largest sum received by the Labour Party was £217,625 from the GMB union.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives had several donations of £200,000, including from Lesley Jackson, co-founder of Hudson Contract, which provides services to the construction industry, and Thurleigh Investments.

Construction giant JCB donated £200,000 to both Reform and the Tories.

Political parties are required to report all donations above £11,180 to the Electoral Commission.

Opposition parties also receive public funds to support their parliamentary duties, with allocations based on their performance at the previous election.

Between October and December, the Conservatives received £1.6m in public funds, compared to £749,173 for the Liberal Democrats.

Reform did not receive any public funds during the period.

The commission's figures do not include smaller donations or income from membership fees, which appear separately in parties' annual accounts.