Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Reform's overseas donors exposed
The paper says that an analysis of data from the Electoral Commission shows the amount received from donors who were based abroad in the past two years by Nigel Farage’s party dwarfs that of other parties amid growing concern about overseas influence in British politics:
In comparison, Labour and the Conservatives received just 0.15 per cent and 3.57 per cent of their donations from people or companies based abroad respectively during the same period.
While there is no suggestion of any illegal activity, Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the scale of Reform’s reliance on donations from wealthy overseas backers “raises further questions about the party’s financial affairs”.
It comes after Reform UK was given two record-breaking donations of £36m each last month from cryptocurrency billionaires Ben Delo, who was previously based in Hong Kong but moved back to the UK earlier this year, and Christopher Harborne, who was based in Thailand. These donations were not included in The Independent’s analysis as they fell outside the reporting period.
Of the 79.41 per cent of Reform UK’s donations that came from overseas in the year 2025-2026, £8m was given by Mr Delo and £15m from Mr Harborne. Companies with controlling directors who were based abroad were also included in the figure for overseas donations.
The other donations include several donations of tens of thousands of pounds from Timothy Mallott, the chief operating officer of brokerage and financial tech firm BGC Group’s EMEA division. His Companies House profile locates him in Hong Kong, while his LinkedIn puts him in Dubai.
Reform also received a donation of £100,000 from Lucas Bitencourt, a British entrepreneur, investor and founder of asset management firm Arbra Partners, whose Companies House profile locates him in Portugal, as well as £45,000 from Flow Lloyds HOLDCO Limited – a UK-registered holding company operating in the insurance sector, whose British director resides in Italy.
Ms Phillipson told The Independent: “The scale of Reform’s reliance on donations from wealthy overseas backers raises further questions about the party’s financial affairs.
“The public deserves to know exactly who is bankrolling Nigel Farage’s party, what interests these donors are seeking to advance, and whether those interests align with the priorities of the British people.
The sooner the government brings in its legislation to restrict the funding of political parties from abroad the better.
