Thai-based crypto investor funding Reform unlikely to avoid cap on overseas donations | Reform UK
Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based crypto investor who gave millions of pounds to Reform UK, is understood to be unlikely to clear the planned cap on overseas political donations even if he is registered to vote in the UK.
Harborne, who also gave £5 million as a “gift” to reform leader Nigel Farage, registered to vote in Hampshire. Times reportedThe newspaper quoted a spokesman for the billionaire as saying he had decided to become a “registered voter in the UK”.
The move could be seen as an attempt to help Harborne get around planned changes to the political donations system, which could impose a £100,000 annual cap on Britons abroad, as well as other measures such as blocking cryptocurrency donations.
The Times reported Harborne’s decision to register to vote as a possible way for him to continue giving large sums to Reform. Interview in April Here he said the government should not be able to prevent him from donating as he wishes, adding: “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
However, among the 15 recommendations are planned changes to donations. an independent report In March, Sir Philip Rycroft, a former senior civil servant, floated the idea that a cap of between £100,000 and £300,000 per year should apply to “British voters living abroad”.
Although the definition of this has not yet been decided by ministers, Rycroft’s report states that it is expected to look at whether the underlying person is based in the UK and not just whether they are registered to vote. Decisions regarding individuals will be left to electoral officers in local councils, who decide whether a voter is “ordinarily resident in the UK” in terms of their address on the electoral register.
Harborne, who has donated £15 million to Reform in the last 12 months and £5 million to Farage shortly before the 2024 election, has lived in Thailand for more than five years and uses the name Chakrit Sakunkrit.
If he wants to exceed the foreign donation limit he may have to return to the UK, making him liable for UK tax on gains from a fortune estimated at more than £18bn.
In his report, Rycroft specifically linked the idea of taxation to the fairness of political donations, writing: “Although many people’s decisions to move abroad are not financially motivated, wealthy individuals who choose to live abroad to have their wealth taxed abroad currently have an unlimited right to donate to political parties in the UK.
“Despite choosing to minimize their contribution to the UK exchequer, these individuals have the opportunity to make game-changing donations to British politics.”
After the review was published, communities secretary Steve Reed said the legislation would apply retroactively from March, subject to parliamentary approval, as the move was urgently necessary to protect UK democracy.
Harborne’s donations came to public attention after the Guardian revealed in April that Farage had received £5 million shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election.
Farage said the money was a gift and therefore did not need to be registered under rules requiring MPs to declare possible interests in the 12 months before the election. He faces a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog.
The reform leader said the money was initially used for personal security costs and then as a reward for Brexit. After avoiding questions on the subject for several weeks, last week he petulantly dismissed an interviewer’s questions about what he spent the money on, saying it was “none of your business.”
“It’s an unconditional gift. If I want, I can spend it on a Ferrari. It’s entirely up to me,” he said, adding: “I can do whatever I want with it. I can put it on horses.”
Harborne’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
