REFORM UK received the highest amount of political donations among parties in the final months of 2025, after a £3 million contribution from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor, according to Electoral Commission data released on Thursday.
Data showed the party received more donations than other parties during the final quarter of the year.
AFP analysis of the Electoral Commission figures also showed Reform UK received the second-highest level of donations across 2025.
The increase in funding comes as Reform has spent months leading national opinion polls ahead of the Labour party. The party is seeking to turn that support into gains in local elections scheduled for May.
According to the Electoral Commission, Reform UK received more than £5.4 million in donations in the final three months of 2025. The Conservative Party received about £4 million, while the ruling Labour party received £1.98 million.
Reform’s total includes a £3 million donation from Thailand-based aviation entrepreneur and cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne.
That brings Harborne’s contributions to Farage’s party to £12 million in six months, following a £9 million donation he made in August.
Across 2025, Reform UK received about £18.8 million in donations. The Conservatives received £20.6 million, while Labour received about £10.1 million.
Harborne’s £12 million in donations over six months places him among the largest individual donors in recent British political history. He has previously donated large sums to the Brexit Party and to the Conservatives under former prime minister Boris Johnson.
"The party that is currently leading in the UK polls is now financially dependent on a single individual living in Thailand," said Chris Bick, a senior research fellow at the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
"This is a major concern."
The government has proposed tightening rules on political donations to prevent foreign interference in elections, including stronger checks on donors and companies giving money to parties.
"It is hardly surprising that voters feel their voice counts for less when wealthy individuals — especially those based overseas — use their money to exert outsized influence over the party system on which our representative democracy depends," added Bick.
A Reform UK spokesman said the figures reflected support for the anti-immigration party.
"These figures show the extraordinary momentum behind Reform UK. Raising more donations than any other party for the second quarter in a row proves that people across Britain are backing the party to deliver real change," the spokesman said.
(With inputs from agencies)
