UK Tightens Donor Residency Rules After £72m Reform UK Gifts
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 15
UK Tightens Donor Residency Rules After £72m Reform UK Gifts
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 15
Summary
A £100,000 annual cap on donations from British voters living overseas would be backdated to 25 March under government plans now tied to stricter residency tests.
The move follows £72 million in donations to Reform UK from crypto-billionaires Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, who each gave £36 million after recently living abroad.
Ministers said donors above the cap would need to show a genuine, ongoing UK connection, with a minimum 12-month residency period under consideration as the bill is examined in the House of Lords.
Nigel Farage said the gifts are legal under current rules and warned retrospective curbs could destabilize party funding, while Liberal Democrats and some unions pressed for broader caps on big-money donations.
The clash has widened a debate over UK political finance, where foreign donations are banned but UK-based donors face no overall limit and trade unions remain a major funding source for Labour.