Reform land second £36m donation in the space of 24 hours

Christopher Harborne has matched Ben Delo's donation

Last night, it was revealed in The Telegraph that crypto billionaire Ben Delo had given £36m to Reform, a donation he announced under his own byline in the paper.

This caught the headlines because in that instance it became the largest ever one-off donation to be given to a party in British history, dwarfing the previous £10m record.

Now, notorious Reform donor Christopher Harborne is back to match Delo's donation, also announcing this under his own byline in The Telegraph.

He wrote in the paper: "Whilst I have been making donations to Reform of around £1m a month, Ben Delo told me he was going to make a record donation of £36m.

"My competitive spirit inspired me to match it, so that is what I’ve done. And I hope others may join us."

Harborne, who made his money like Delo in cryptocurrencies, described the donation as a "philanthropic gift to our country".

A country he loves so much that he continues to live in Thailand where he has been for the last 30 years - at least as per latest reports.

It's not even clear if he pays tax in the UK and this remains highly unlikely seeing as his primary residence appears to still be abroad.

He avoids the new £100,000 foreign donation cap because he is registered with electoral officials as living in Hampshire, as per Channel 4 News.

Harborne follows in the footsteps of the previously convicted, and then pardoned, Ben Delo.

Delo, 42, was convicted in the US in 2022 for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls in regard to his crypto trading platform BitMEX.

Reform given record-breaking £36m donation by crypto billionaire. Image: Ben Delo Foundation.

Trump pardoned him in 2025.

These donations comes just a week after Reform and Nigel Farage found themselves at the centre of an undercover report and subsequent police investigation into alleged foreign donations to the party.

Delo was also living in Asia until earlier this year, being based in Hong Kong.

In a feature article written for The Telegraph, Delo said: "I love my country – that’s why I want a level democratic playing field and a party that’s ready to govern."

He took aim at the Tories and Labour who have "occupied the commanding heights of British politics for a combined total of more than 300 years," saying the reason it has been hard to challenge them is due to their economic monopoly.

He said he is giving £1m a month until the expected 2029 general election, front-loaded as a £36m gift, to help Reform "prepare for government" and "spend less time trying to raise funds to compete on equal terms."

In all fairness, Reform don't seem to be struggling on that front, although it helps when it's done illicitly (allegedly).

Largest one-off donations in UK political history

With his £36m donation to Reform UK, Delo has smashed the previous record which was a £10m donation from John Sainsbury to the Conservative Party.

The top 10 are as follows:

1. Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne — £36 million each to Reform UK (2026)
2. John Sainsbury — £10 million to the Conservative Party (2023)
3. Christopher Harborne — £9 million to Reform UK (2025)
4. David Sainsbury — £8 million to the Liberal Democrats (2019)
5. Frank Hester — £5 million to the Conservative Party.
6. Mohamed Mansour — £5 million to the Conservative Party
7. David Sainsbury — £3 million to the Labour Party
8. Christopher Harborne — £3 million to Reform UK (2026)
9. Ben Delo — £4 million to Reform UK (2026)
10. Gary Lubner — £3 million to the Labour Party