Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, is facing an investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Committee over a gift worth £5 million (approximately $6.7 million) from a party donor. The probe comes just days after the anti-immigration party emerged as the biggest winner in local and regional elections.
A Reform UK spokesperson on May 7 denied any wrongdoing, telling Reuters: “Mr. Farage has always made clear this was a personal, unconditional gift, and no rules were broken. We look forward to this matter being swiftly concluded.”
According to Farage, the money was received from billionaire Christopher Harborne—a Thailand-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur—to cover personal security costs, before Farage announced his candidacy for the 2024 general election and won a seat in the House of Commons. He stressed it was not a political donation.
However, opposition parties in April accused him of violating rules requiring MPs to declare gifts received in the year before an election, within one month of taking office. The current investigation focuses on whether there was any breach of parliamentary declaration rules.
Reform UK has led all national opinion polls since early 2025, putting its funding under increased scrutiny. In last week’s elections for around 5,000 seats across 136 local councils in England, the Scottish Parliament, and the Welsh Parliament, the party made significant gains, even in traditional Labour strongholds.
If the investigation concludes that Farage seriously violated gift-declaration rules, he could face suspension from the House of Commons. A suspension of 10 days or more could trigger a recall petition, forcing him to contest a by-election to keep his seat.
According to data from the UK Electoral Commission, about two-thirds of Reform UK’s funding last year came from Harborne. Critics argue that accepting money from a foreign billionaire highlights a gap between Farage’s populist image—as a man of the people ready to take on elites—and his reliance on wealthy donors.
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice said over the weekend that voters were aware of the gift and still turned out in large numbers for the party in last week’s elections. Earlier this year, Farage apologized after parliamentary authorities found 17 unintentional breaches of rules on declaring financial interests, including payments from Google and Elon Musk’s X Corp. The Parliamentary Standards Committee at the time ruled those breaches were inadvertent, stemming from staffing and administrative issues.
