Reform UK's Robert Jenrick defends record-breaking £72m crypto donations

What happened

Reform UK has defended a record-breaking £72 million cash injection from two cryptocurrency billionaires, insisting the money is entirely legal and has no strings attached.

The party's economics spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, said the two £36 million donations – the largest in British political history – represent a "breakthrough moment" that leaves Reform battle-ready for the next general election. The sum is so vast that it exceeds the £69 million raised by all UK political parties combined last year.

But the windfall, donated by crypto investors Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, has immediately drawn intense scrutiny from across the political spectrum over foreign funding rules, the influence of digital currencies, and the prospect of retrospective electoral laws.

Retrospective legal challenges

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner warned that pending legislation designed to cap foreign political donations could apply retrospectively from 25 March. Under those rules, anyone who has received non-compliant donations would have 60 days to return the cash.

"If there are a few individuals who fund power to power... in a democracy that is a concern," Rayner said. She declined to comment on the specific circumstances of the Reform donors.

Jenrick, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform in January, dismissed suggestions that the party would have to hand the money back. He said the donations "are entirely in line with the law as it is and, as far as we know, what it is going to be in the future." He added that unlike the Conservative Party, Reform would not reward its wealthy backers with knighthoods or peerages.

Concerns over foreign influence and crypto

Questions have also been raised about the donors' backgrounds and locations. Harborne remains based in Thailand, while Delo – who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year after being convicted of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act – reportedly moved back to the UK in April. Current rules allow British citizens living abroad to donate, but proposed legislation would require them to have lived in the UK for a full calendar year before donating large sums.

Rival politicians were quick to criticise the transactions. Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat warned of the "Americanisation of politics where money runs free" and pointed out that cryptocurrency is frequently used to launder money and bypass international sanctions. He also questioned Reform's due diligence, pointing to recent allegations that party aides had attempted to bypass foreign funding limits.

Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said he would never accept such funds, asking whether the donors were motivated by altruism or a desire for "deregulation of the crypto agenda."