Crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo has made a record £36million donation to Reform UK, the largest single gift to a British political party, saying he wants Nigel Farage's party to have "a fair fight" at the next general election. The donation comes as Reform faces a Metropolitan Police investigation over alleged breaches of donation law, following a Channel 4 undercover sting suggesting senior party figures tried to circumvent rules on foreign funding, making the timing and scale of the gift politically significant.

Delo, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX, was already Reform's second-largest donor, having previously given £8million, and said the party should focus on preparing for government rather than fundraising. The gift dwarfs the previous record of £10million given to the Conservatives, and means Reform has now raised roughly five times as much as the Conservatives and six times as much as Labour this year. Delo criticised Labour's £100,000 cap on overseas donations as "election rigging," while Farage called the donation "humbling," and Labour accused Reform of trying to buy its way past questions about "sleaze" and a separate £5million donation from another crypto backer, Christopher Harborne, under parliamentary scrutiny.