Billionaire Ben Delo (Sheffield, 42 years old), who has amassed a huge fortune in the cryptocurrency business, has donated 36 million pounds sterling (about 42 million euros) to Reform UK, the party of far-right Nigel Farage. It is the largest sum ever given by a single person to a British political party.
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Such a gift is a boost for Farage, recently harassed by various corruption scandals, who has said he feels “honored and deeply grateful” for the donation. Delo justified his step in an opinion piece published in the conservative newspaper The Daily Telegraph in which he states that he wants there to be a “fair and balanced electoral competition” in the United Kingdom.
Delo, who made his fortune in Hong Kong before returning to British soil, was convicted in 2022 in the United States for not having implemented the legally required controls in his companies to prevent money laundering. However, the billionaire was pardoned by President Donald Trump and currently has no pending legal issues.
The delivery of the money is not immediate. Delo has committed to giving one million pounds monthly to the party until the next general elections, which should take place in 2029, exactly 36 months from now. However, he has made it clear that he will advance the entire promised amount if the current Labour Government decides to impose a limit on personal donations that political parties can receive.
This is an idea demanded by many left and center MPs, which former Prime Minister Keir Starmer once considered. However, neither he nor his successor, Andy Burnham, have advanced this proposal. “The Government has already acknowledged that these mega-donors are a problem, and that we must do something to stop it,” said Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who most strongly calls for a limitation. “This donation, which means Reform UK has obtained in one day more than our party spent in the last general elections, shows that action must be taken as soon as possible to protect our democracy.”
Although British legislation limits to 100,000 pounds (about 116,500 euros) the money that someone living abroad and who has not resided in the United Kingdom in the 12 months prior to the donation can give to a party, Reform UK is convinced that the move made by billionaire Delo complies with all legal parameters and will not pose any problem.
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“Unlike all those who show a feigned concern about the health of our democracy, while continuing to do everything they can to keep it controlled as if it were a cartel, I want a fair and balanced electoral competition,” Delo wrote in the Telegraph. “My conclusion regarding the recent problems facing Reform UK is that they should spend less time fundraising to try to compete on equal terms [with the other parties] and focus more on preparing to govern.”
Farage’s “problems”
The “recent problems” to which the billionaire refers, who had previously donated four million pounds to Farage’s party and has never hesitated to publicly express his opinions against immigration or the woke movement, are a series of police investigations into alleged illegal donations that have put the politician and the party on the ropes and have significantly reduced their electoral prospects in the polls.
The London Metropolitan Police has just announced the opening of an investigation following revelations made by the Channel 4 News and the investigative journalism group, Verbatim: hidden cameras showing two of Farage’s direct advisors (already resigned) and the politician himself meeting with fake American billionaires to arrange apparently illegal donations and aid.
The police were already on the trail of several payments received by Reform UK before the last July 2024 Parliamentary elections. Specifically, donations made by Fiona Cottrell, an aristocrat daughter of the third Baron of Manton and heiress to a business empire derived from soap manufacturing. She was once the girlfriend of then Prince Charles of England (now Charles III), before her nude pose in Penthouse magazine ruined the relationship.
Farage already tried to avoid a parliamentary investigation into his corrupt dealings by resigning as an MP and forcing a new by-election in his Clacton-on-Sea constituency in mid-August. The boycott by the other political parties, who refused to play along with the populist politician, intent on presenting that vote as an opportunity for “the people to respond to the establishment,” meant his only rival was a comedian dressed as a superhero with a trash bin on his head nicknamed Count Binface. Farage retained his seat but failed to avoid a parliamentary investigation that was reactivated as soon as he regained his status as an MP.
