Reform UK accepted more than £5.3 million in donations during the second quarter of 2026, out-raising both Labour and the Conservatives, according to new figures published by the Electoral Commission.
The party accepted £5,333,657 in donations excluding public funding between April and June, compared with £3,588,506 for Labour and £2,810,690 for the Conservatives.
When public funding is included, Reform accepted £5,437,360 during the quarter, Labour £3,609,664 and the Conservatives £4,039,317.
Reform takes £5.33m in private donations
The Electoral Commission's quarterly figures show that political parties across the UK accepted a combined £17,085,354 in donations and public funds during Q2 2026.
Reform's £5.33 million private-donation total was the highest of any party during the quarter. Labour came second on £3.59 million, followed by the Conservatives on £2.81 million and the Liberal Democrats on £1.37 million.
The Commission's figures cover reportable donations and public funds and should not be interpreted as a complete record of every small donation received by political parties.
£4m reportedly came from Ben Delo
A large majority of Reform's Q2 fundraising came from a single donor.
Reuters reports that cryptocurrency entrepreneur Ben Delo donated £4 million to Reform during the quarter, accounting for roughly three quarters of the party's reported private donations.
Delo is a co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX. He pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in connection with BitMEX's failure to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering programme. He was subsequently pardoned by US President Donald Trump.
Those circumstances relate to Delo's US case and pardon and do not suggest that the donation reported to the Electoral Commission was unlawful.
Reform ahead of Labour and Conservatives
Reform raised around £1.75 million more than Labour and approximately £2.52 million more than the Conservatives in reportable private donations during the three-month period.
Public funding changes the comparison with the Conservatives because the Conservative Party accepted more than £1.2 million in public funds during the quarter. But on donations alone, Reform remained comfortably ahead.
Fundraising down from Reform's previous quarter
The result does not mean Reform's fundraising is continuing to accelerate quarter after quarter.
The party's Q2 donation income was substantially lower than the more than £9 million it raised during the previous quarter. Reuters reports that Reform had raised more than £9 million in each of the preceding two quarters.
The latest figures therefore show two trends at the same time: Reform's fundraising has fallen from its recent exceptional highs, but the party still raised considerably more in private donations than either Labour or the Conservatives during Q2.
Political donations under increasing scrutiny
The figures arrive amid a wider Westminster debate over the influence of very large political donations.
The Government's Representation of the People Bill includes changes intended to strengthen political-finance rules, while ministers have also announced work examining the influence of so-called political “mega-donors”.
The Electoral Commission has itself argued that parts of the political-finance system need strengthening. Its analysis of proposals for donation caps notes that the growing number of large donations to Reform during 2025 and 2026 may be changing the historic pattern in which Labour and the Conservatives received the greatest value of high-level contributions.
Government plans tighter rules for overseas donors
The Government has separately proposed a £100,000 annual cap on political donations and loans from British citizens registered as overseas voters.
According to Electoral Commission guidance, ministers intend the restriction to apply retrospectively to relevant donations and loans from 25 March 2026, subject to the legislation being enacted.
The proposed restriction is specifically aimed at overseas voters and is different from a universal cap on the amount any UK donor could contribute.
Reform's financial rise reshapes party funding
For Reform, the latest figures demonstrate that the party's financial operation is now operating on a scale comparable with — and during this quarter larger than — those of Britain's established major parties.
That does not by itself indicate electoral support: political donations and votes measure very different things, and Reform's Q2 total was heavily influenced by one exceptionally large contribution.
But access to substantial funding can affect a party's ability to employ staff, organise campaigns, advertise and prepare for elections.
With the Government simultaneously examining the role of mega-donors in British politics, the concentration of Reform's latest fundraising around a £4 million contribution is also likely to keep the wider question of political-finance reform firmly on Westminster's agenda.