UK Moves to Tighten Political Donation Rules, Targeting Crypto Billionaire Giving

The UK government is moving to tighten political donation rules to block foreign money from entering domestic politics.

Bloomberg reported on July 5 that the government plans to introduce a rule barring donors who have returned from overseas from giving more than 100,000 pounds ($133,000) until they have been back in the UK for a year. It also plans to tighten standards for corporate donations by assessing whether a company has a genuine business presence in the UK based on after-tax profit rather than revenue.

The move could directly affect Reform UK's fundraising model. Electoral Commission data show the party received millions of pounds in donations over the past year from crypto entrepreneurs Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo. Farage, in particular, is under investigation over whether his receipt of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) from Harborne, who lives in Thailand, violated parliamentary rules.

Delo wrote in an April opinion piece for the Daily Telegraph that he would return to the UK to increase his support for Reform UK. Robert Jenrick, the party's finance spokesman, responded that no rules had been broken.

Steve Reed, the UK housing, communities and local government secretary, said the tighter rules would block opaque funding flows and prevent foreign money from influencing elections, helping protect democracy.