Nigel Farage received a £5 million personal gift from Reform UK's biggest donor before he became a Member of Parliament, the BBC reported Wednesday, setting off immediate accusations from rival parties that he broke parliamentary disclosure rules.
The money came from Christopher Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor based in Thailand, in early 2024. Farage told The Telegraph the gift was intended to fund personal protection. "I have tried and failed in the past to get security funded by the Home Office and I don't think the state will ever help me," Farage said. "I'm very much on my own and will be for the rest of my life."
Harborne is already the largest single living donor to a UK political party, having given £9 million to Reform UK last year and £12 million in total during 2025. The separate £5 million payment to Farage personally does not appear on his MP register of interests.
The Conservative Party said it had referred Farage to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. Party chair Kevin Hollinrake said a new MP should have declared the gift. "Why does Reform think the rules don't apply to them? This stinks and Reform should come clean now," he said. Labour Party chair Anna Turley accused Farage of having "broken the rules again by failing to declare this cash from his billionaire backer."
Farage's team disputes the allegation. A Reform UK spokesman said the payment was "a personal unconditional gift that was given before he was elected" and that the party was "confident everything has been declared in accordance with the rules." The spokesman also accused the Conservatives of having endangered Farage by denying him state-funded protection when they were in government.
The Commons code of conduct requires new MPs to register all current financial interests and any registrable benefits received in the 12 months before their election within one month of taking their seat. Farage announced he was standing for the Clacton seat on June 4, 2024, and took over as Reform UK's leader at the same time. The timing puts the early 2024 gift squarely within the declaration window.
Farage told The Telegraph that Harborne's concern for his safety dates back to 2019, when a milkshake was thrown at him while he campaigned in Newcastle for the Brexit Party. He also disclosed that his home was the target of a firebomb attack in early 2025 while he was away. A lit device, he said, was pushed through his letterbox in what he called "an outright arson attempt."
