UK to Tighten Political Donation Rules, Targeting Crypto Billionaire Giving
Forecast Trend Report by Period
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 require donors who have returned to the UK from overseas to wait one year before they can give more than 100,000 pounds ($133,000). It also plans to tighten scrutiny of corporate donations by assessing whether a company has genuine operations in the UK based on after-tax profit rather than revenue.
The changes could directly affect Reform UK's funding structure. Data from the Electoral Commission show the party received donations totaling millions of pounds over the past year from crypto entrepreneurs Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo. Party leader Nigel Farage is also under investigation over whether he breached parliamentary rules by accepting 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) from Harborne, who lives in Thailand.
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. Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick responded that the party had not broken any rules.
Steve Reed, the UK's housing, communities and local government secretary, said the tougher rules would block opaque funding flows and prevent foreign money from influencing elections, helping protect democracy.
