Nigel Farage was given \u00a35m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, the Guardian can reveal.<\/p>\n
Farage had stated he did not intend to stand as a prospective MP but U-turned in June 2024, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thailand-based businessman.<\/p>\n
In July 2024, Farage became an MP for the first time and has since stated he now expects to become prime minister at the next general election.<\/p>\n
After being approached by the Guardian about the gift, neither he nor Harborne provided a comment \u2013 instead lawyers for Reform UK<\/a> and Harborne pleaded for more time. Farage then confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that he had received the gift, saying that it was to pay for his personal security.<\/p>\n Until that point neither Harborne nor Farage had spoken publicly about the \u00a35m gift. It did not need to be declared to the parliamentary authorities as Farage was not a sitting MP at the time.<\/p>\n At the time of the gift, Farage had not announced that he would run for the seat of Clacton-on-Sea, and therefore may not have needed to declare it to the electoral commission.<\/p>\n Asked on Monday by the Guardian about the gift, Reform sent a legal letter asking for more time to respond. The deadline was extended until Wednesday morning. The Telegraph then published its interview with Farage before the deadline.<\/p>\n The money underlines what a pivotal figure Harborne has become in British politics \u2013 bankrolling Farage personally and the parties he has led over the past seven years.<\/p>\n Last year he donated \u00a39m to Reform UK \u2013 the largest ever single donation by a living person to a British political party.<\/p>\n In total, he gave \u00a312m to the party in 2025.<\/p>\n The \u00a35m gift to Farage is likely to raise fresh questions for the Reform leader, given what he said in the run-up to the last election, and his more recent remarks about his relationship with Harborne.<\/p>\n On 23 May 2024<\/a>, Farage declared he would not stand as an MP in the July poll, putting an end to weeks of speculation that he would make an eighth attempt to enter parliament.<\/p>\n Christopher Harborne gave \u00a312m to Reform UK in 2025. Photograph: George Cracknell Wright\/LNP<\/p>\n In a post on X, he explained: \u201cI have thought long and hard as to whether I should stand in the upcoming general election. I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go further than that.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he wanted to be free to campaign in the US presidential election later that year.<\/p>\n \u201cImportant though the general election is, the contest in the United States of America on 5 November has huge global significance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One reason for his unwillingness to once again stand for parliament, he told friends, was the financial toll he believed his political career had placed on him. He has previously declared \u201cthere\u2019s no money in politics\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n