Reform UK’s 2025 Funding Surge Tied to Three Major Donors

Electoral-Commission-filed accounts show Reform UK raised £31,862,420 in calendar 2025, edging out the Conservative Party’s £30,942,000 and becoming the best-funded party in the country that year. The party ended 2025 with £10.2 million in the bank, surpassing all rivals and avoiding the £2.6 million deficit reported by Labour. Income rose 195 percent from the previous year, driven by a sharp increase in declared donations and higher merchandise, membership fees, and office costs.

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More than half of Reform’s 2025 donations came from three individuals. Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne contributed £12 million (including £9 million in August 2025 and £3 million in November 2025, with an additional £3 million logged in January 2025). Fiona Cottrell, mother of Farage aide George Cottrell, gave £250,000 in February 2025 and was linked to a £500,000 donation investigated for possible evasion of election-donation rules. Party treasurer Nick Candy donated £990,000 across several instalments during 2025. Overall declared donations reached £22.9 million, a 290 percent rise from 2024’s £5.9 million.

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Scotland Yard opened an inquiry in January 2025 after the Electoral Commission flagged the £500,000 donation from Fiona Cottrell as potentially breaching donor-restriction rules. Reform UK denies any wrongdoing and asserts compliance with electoral law. The party leader faces a parliamentary standards inquiry over a £5 million gift from Harborne, which he describes as a private payment for personal security. Additional questions have been raised about loans from deputy leader Richard Tice in 2024 and the source of funds linked to George Cottrell.

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Reform UK maintains that all contributions were properly declared and that the party operates within the legal framework. The leader characterises the Harborne payment as a personal security arrangement, not a party-funded expense. Party officials have emphasized the transparency of their accounts and the legitimacy of their fundraising activities.

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• “The publication of party financial accounts reveals the extent to which some parties are reliant on a small number of major donors,” — Juliet Swann, nations and regions programme manager at Transparency International

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