Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has stated that new retrospective rules on political donations could affect Reform UK's recent £72m fundraising. The party received £36m each from cryptocurrency billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, making these the largest individual donations to a British political party on record.
Rayner said new restrictions on political donations from Britons living abroad or those who have recently returned to the UK would be backdated. The government's Representation of the People Bill aims to cap such donations at £100,000 a year, with provisions backdated to March.
Christopher Harborne has been based in Thailand for decades and also holds Thai citizenship, while Ben Delo recently returned to Britain after living in Hong Kong. Reform UK has stated that both men are British citizens entitled to donate and that all donations complied with Electoral Commission rules and UK law.
Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said the party had "no reason" to return the money, insisting the donations were lawful under current rules and, as he understood them, forthcoming legislation. The £72m injection is intended to allow Reform UK to hire campaign managers and staff, with the party describing itself as being on "election footing".