Reform UK pulled in £9.3 million in private donations during the first quarter of 2026, leapfrogging both Labour and the Conservatives in the fundraising race. The bulk of that haul, roughly £7 million, came from just two people: crypto billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.

Electoral Commission data released on June 4, 2026, laid out the numbers. Delo contributed £4 million across two donations. Harborne added another £3 million. Together, they accounted for about 75% of Reform UK’s quarterly fundraising total.

The donors and the timing

Delo’s contributions landed on January 14 and March 2, at £2 million each. Both were made in fiat currency, not in crypto-assets, which is a relevant distinction given ongoing regulatory discussions about whether digital asset donations to political parties should be banned entirely.

Harborne’s £3 million in Q1 is just the latest chapter in what has become a sustained financial relationship with Reform UK. He has donated over £15 million to the party since 2025, including a single £9 million contribution in August 2025 that set a record for the largest individual political donation in UK history at the time.

Both donors are British citizens living abroad. That matters because of what happened on March 25, 2026.

On that date, the UK government announced a new annual cap of £100,000 on donations from overseas contributors to political parties. The cap was applied retroactively to March 25, meaning that both Delo and Harborne got their millions in just under the wire.

Harborne has reportedly signaled he may pursue legal challenges against the new caps. Delo, meanwhile, plans to relocate back to the UK, which would sidestep the overseas restriction entirely and allow him to continue funding the party without limits.

Why crypto money is flowing into UK politics

Reform UK became the first UK political party to accept cryptocurrency donations in 2025. The party has positioned itself as explicitly pro-crypto, advocating for lower capital gains taxes on digital assets and a regulatory environment that encourages blockchain innovation rather than stifling it.

Delo made his fortune as a co-founder of BitMEX, the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. Harborne built wealth through investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum as early as 2011 and 2014, respectively, and holds an estimated 12% stake in Tether, making him one of its largest individual shareholders.

The fact that both donations were made in fiat rather than crypto is worth noting. It insulates the transactions from the ongoing debate about whether crypto donations should be permitted at all.

What this means for investors and the crypto market

Reform UK has been pushing pro-crypto policies as a differentiator in British politics, including potentially lower taxes on crypto gains and lighter-touch regulation on exchanges. The US went through a similar cycle in 2024, when crypto-aligned PACs poured hundreds of millions of dollars into congressional races, resulting in a Congress significantly more receptive to industry-friendly legislation.

Harborne’s potential legal challenge against the cap will be a critical case to watch, not just for Reform UK’s finances but for the broader question of how much influence foreign-based crypto wealth can exert on British democracy. With Delo planning to move back to the UK and Harborne exploring legal avenues, the cap may prove to be more of a speed bump than a wall.