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The far-right Reform UK party, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, is on the rise, increasingly on strong calls for border controls and anti-immigration rhetoric. But looking at its finances tells a different story, with money flowing across borders.
When Change UK It is said that the aim is to strengthen the rule of law by prioritizing the leadership of the parliament, reducing immigration, and reducing the influence of international organizations, many financial backers, political relations and allies continue. United Kingdom and to other countries.
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Within this network are a few donors, including his main sponsor, Christopher Harborne, a Thai donor.
Farage himself is a globalist.
In December, he flew to Abu Dhabi at the expense of the United Arab Emirates to attend meetings and meet with officials, even as he built a political brand against people from places like the Middle East.
Are these payments legal?
The UK’s financial system allows unlimited donations when it is open, Sam Power, an expert in political finance, electoral management and corruption at the University of Bristol, told Al Jazeera, noting that “everyone can donate as much as they want as long as they are allowed”.
Although transparency was necessary to balance this freedom, in practice, with invisible donations, gifts, and powerless laws to attract people who are preventing enlightenment, this system “is no longer compatible with the British electoral law”, he said.
Duncan Hames, director of policy, Transparency International UK, said that British democracy is becoming “a playground for the super rich”.
“Political parties are becoming more and more dependent on a small number of donors, and the effect that money has on our politics is clear: it buys access, political influence, and even seats in the House of Lords,” he said.
Donations have been working for British politicians, Power explained, but what Reform UK has done is “over” the limit.
“British politics has always had a problem of representation, because a small number of rich people have a lot of power, but we have never seen this small number and this big money,” said Hames.
Let’s take a closer look at Reform UK’s international network.
Contributions from abroad
Reform UK relies heavily on donations, around two-thirds of which come from wealthy individuals.
At the heart of this establishment is Harborne, a British-Thai businessman who is the biggest donor to a UK political party in history, having donated more than £22 million ($30m) to Reform.
In 2025 alone, he donated 12 million pounds ($16.3m).
His relationship with Farage has also been fraught with controversy. The Guardian recently revealed that the Reform UK leader had received an undisclosed £5 million ($6.8m) gift from Harborne in early 2024, weeks before Farage announced his intention to become an MP and run for Clacton.
Under the rules of the House of Commons, new MPs must apply for “registration benefits” that have been received 12 months before the election. The Conservative Party referred Farage to the parliamentary legislation committee to investigate, asking why so much money was kept from the public.
Farage said the money was given to him “to keep me safe for the rest of my life”.
Harborne has made most of his wealth from his 12 per cent stake in Tether, the cryptocurrency that Farage now regularly promotes in public.
Farage travels to Abu Dhabi, Maldives
In December, the UAE paid nearly 1,000 pounds ($1,360) for Farage to visit Abu Dhabi and paid $9,000 for Paddock to win the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, according to the UK Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said Reform UK’s treasurer, Nick Candy, organized the visit because the UAE leadership was “keen to talk to Reform over its opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood”.
Harborne is said to have spent £25,000 ($33,900) flying Farage to the Maldives for a three-day trip which the Reform UK leader labeled a “philanthropy”.
At the time of going to press, Reform had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Paid speaking engagements abroad
Farage is also aired around the world to speak at various events.
In November, Bassim Haidar, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire businessman and prominent donor to Reform UK, spent 55,000 pounds ($74,528) to fly Farage and two of his aides to the United States for a “philanthropic speaking event”, according to the register.
Haidar uses Dubai as his main business center, while his European headquarters are in Greece.
In February 2025, GB Newsjournalists who have published biased stories about Muslims according to a recent investigation, paid Farage 7,924 pounds ($ 10,737) to cover the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual meeting of conservatives in the US, organized by the American Conservative Union, where he also spoke. CPAC charged the cost of his accommodation.
Will anything change?
Reform UK is committed to doing “the bare minimum to comply with electoral transparency laws,” Power said. The party appears to be “reluctant to provide information unless forced”, which he expects to continue.
However, minor legal changes are being implemented.
After Harborne’s donation was revealed, the UK government unveiled a proposed 100,000-pound ($135,611) cap that British citizens living abroad can donate for a year, as well as a temporary ban on all donations made in cryptocurrencies.
Mr Power said that in the end, the UK’s political delivery system does not stop at one point, but some compromises must be made.
He proposed a “democracy in the background” to make a donation of 1 million pounds ($1.35m).
He said: “It makes us detox a little bit.”
