Who is the British billionaire behind £9m Reform donation?
Reform UK recently received the largest donation to a political party from a living person in UK history, official figures show.
In August, Nigel Farage’s party received £9 million from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman with a long association with right-wing politics and Brexit.
This huge sum meant that Reformation England received the largest amount of donations between July and September this year; The Conservatives came in behind with £7 million, while Labor came third with £2.5 million.
The donation also marks another departure from Kemi Badenoch’s party, which has struggled to retain its voter base following the rising popularity of Reform UK.
In recent years, Mr Harborne has made significant donations to both the Conservative Party and the Brexit Party, and even accompanied Boris Johnson on a trip to Ukraine when he was Prime Minister.
Who is Christopher Harborne?
Mr Harborne is a British businessman in his early sixties and a leading cryptocurrency investor.
He was educated at Westminster School, an elite private school near parliament, before studying at Downing College, Cambridge, and gaining an MBA at the prestigious business school INSEAD.
He currently resides in Thailand and holds Thai citizenship under the name Chakrit Sakunkrit.
Where did his wealth come from?
Earlier in his career, Mr. Harborne worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Co. before moving to Asia to run a research firm.
He is currently chief executive of Sherriff Global Group, which trades private aircraft, and owns AML Global, which sells aviation fuel.
In addition, Mr Harborne also has a shareholding interest in defense technology firm Qinetiq, which has previously received contracts from the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Apart from his aviation business, he is a technology investor and founded a company called Singular AI Consulting Limited and is currently a shareholder of the Tether cryptocurrency.
What does it have to do with politics?
The businessman has donated to right-wing parties on a number of occasions, including a £6 million donation to the Brexit Party in 2019 and a £3 million donation made shortly before the 2019 general election.
He has also made smaller donations to the Conservative Party since 2001, amounting to around £15,000 a year.
In November 2022, Mr Harborne donated £1 million to Boris Johnson’s private office; this is one of the largest donations ever made to a British politician.
He later advised the former prime minister during his trip to Kiev to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in September 2023.
Reform UK has denied that Nigel Farage’s promotion of cryptocurrency Tether, in which Harborne is a shareholder, and support for deregulating cryptocurrency in the UK were linked to the donation.
When asked about the link, a party spokesman said: “No. [It is] Because [Harborne] “He supports Reformation England, just as he supports the Brexit Party.”
