‘Britain cannot let billionaire donors buy our democracy’

Reform UK’s crypto baron mega donations over the weekend mean we are in uncharted waters. Left unchecked, the outsize influence of a tiny number of unimaginably wealthy donors could wreck our democracy. The good news is that there’s a way to avoid that scenario.

Last weekend two crypto billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, said they would hand Reform UK £36 million each. This is more money than every party in Britain received in donations in the whole of last year. It is an obscene amount, on a far greater scale, proportionately, than even the $250 million Elon Musk infamously splashed on getting Donald Trump re-elected in 2024.

But these donations are just the latest and most dramatic examples of an alarming trend. In 2015, donations of £1 million or more made up 1% of private political funding. By 2024 it was 35%.

As the Representation of the People Bill, a potentially seminal piece of legislation, passes through parliament, the clamour for a definitive cap on the amount any individual can donate to a political party has reached fever pitch.

READ MORE: Labour Party Conference 2026: Full LabourList events programme, revealed 

As Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, I have been working with colleagues across all parties and both houses for months. The consensus is that something must be done. And it needs to be done quickly.

First things first, I think we now need to see a donation cap in place before the horse has bolted. It should start with a number that is low enough to prevent the sort of grotesque distortion we saw over the weekend, but high enough to avoid any unintended consequences. Given the current tax burden, I don’t want to see political parties being fully funded by the taxpayer.

Then we need to think about the future. There are two sides to this particular coin. The supply of money – the donation cap, and the demand for it – the spending limit. Both must be reformed in tandem. Ministers have written to the Electoral Commission asking for a review of the suitability of current spending limits by July 2027. That is a welcome step.

But I do think it is time for us to take this issue out of the political arena. That means that an independent body must have a say on both how much can be donated and how much can be spent. And we need specific, objective public interest tests for those figures to reverse the alarming collapse of trust in our political system. I propose the impact on the parties themselves, the fairness of elections and public confidence in electoral integrity.

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

Failure to use the Bill to bring a swift end to the corrosive role of big money in our politics would represent a major missed opportunity.

Momentum is building. The Bill’s second reading in the House of Lords this week showed both the breadth and depth of support.

Cross-party consensus was also in evidence in other areas we have concerns about, including closing loopholes in the Government’s crypto donation ban and strengthening the criminal offence for breaches of political finance rules.

There are other issues which still need looking at, such as the absurd rules which allow you to set up a political party with any amount of money, from any source, without having to explain to anyone how you came by it.

But the issue of foreign interference and big money distorting our democracy can only be solved through constructive collaboration between politicians of different stripes. This is not an issue confined to any single party and, across the political spectrum, we will all lose equally if Parliament does not make the most of this precious opportunity. 

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].