The £5m gift to Nigel Farage from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne was reported to the National Crime Agency (NCA) by bankers who suspected it might be laundered money, the Guardian can reveal. The disclosure intensifies pressure on the Reform UK leader, who faces a parliamentary standards investigation over his failure to declare the donation.
Farage announced a byelection in his Clacton-on-Sea seat on Tuesday afternoon, hours after being given a deadline to respond to the Guardian’s questions. However, all major parties—including the Conservatives, Labour, the Greens, Restore Britain and the Liberal Democrats—said they would not field candidates, dismissing the contest as a “media circus” and “vanity project”.
According to financial sources, Farage received at least part of the £5m after he publicly ruled out standing for parliament on 23 May 2024, with the remainder arriving shortly before he reversed course and declared his candidacy for Clacton. A suspicious activity report (SAR) was filed with the NCA on 16 May 2024, though an SAR is not evidence of wrongdoing but a trigger for further investigation.
Farage has given contradictory explanations for the gift, insisting he was not a politician at the time and therefore under no obligation to declare it. However, he became a “person of significant control” over Reform’s corporate entity on 1 May 2024 and had served as honorary president since March 2021. Harborne’s lawyers claim the money was received on 5 April 2024, but the Guardian understands the transfers were incomplete even by late May.
The crisis deepened as Lord Ashcroft’s new book, The Farage Factor, revealed that plans for Farage’s candidacy were already underway by mid-May, contradicting his public statements. Farage faces a standards commissioner ruling on whether he breached parliamentary rules, and the NCA may decide to investigate further.
