Nigel Farage has insisted that record-breaking £36m donations from cryptocurrency entrepreneurs Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne are "100 per cent compliant with the law today", following confirmation from Downing Street that planned curbs on overseas political donors will be backdated to 25 March.

Speaking after the government introduced the Representation of the People Bill in the House of Lords, the Reform UK leader said both men are "two British entrepreneurs that are voters in the UK" and entitled to donate without restriction. Mr Farage pledged to fight any government effort to block the combined £72m sum "with all the might we have", claiming rival parties were "having kittens" over funding that would level the playing field. Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, had earlier declined to confirm when either donor relocated to the UK.

Under the proposed legislation, political donations from British citizens based abroad will be capped at £100,000, with returning expatriates required to prove 12 months of UK residency before making uncapped contributions. Conservative frontbencher Baroness O'Neill told peers it was her party's understanding that the donations "would be caught by the overseas contributors cap".

Questions over their eligibility follow scrutiny of electoral roll records. Official records reported by the Daily Mail show Mr Delo has been registered to vote in Oxfordshire since 2022, despite stating in April that he would move back from Hong Kong early to contribute more to Reform. Mr Harborne, who has lived in Thailand, changed his UK voter registration in June this year after being registered in Hampshire last year under "other electors"—a heading that can include overseas voters. He does not appear to have been registered to vote in the UK in 2021 or 2024.

Mr Farage previously described the funding as an "investment in democratic renewal" in the Mail on Sunday, writing that the money would be used "for one purpose only: to make certain we are ready to form a government at the next election". Reform plans to deploy the £72m to recruit policy specialists and fund up to 400 target-constituency campaign managers, as well as an "attack unit", amid Westminster speculation of an early general election following Andy Burnham succeeding Sir Keir Starmer in July.

The contributions bring Reform's total fundraising this year to nearly £90m, compared with roughly £10m raised by the Conservatives and £8m by Labour. Mr Farage noted that Reform spent £5.5m during the 2024 general election campaign, compared with £30m by Labour and £23m by the Conservatives.

Mr Harborne told the Daily Telegraph that a "competitive spirit" prompted him to match Mr Delo's £36m gift, adding: "So what do I expect in return for my donations? Nothing. No peerage, no policy change, just a party that is ready for government." Sheffield-born Mr Delo co-founded the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, which is scheduled to shut down on 23 September. A double first-class Oxford graduate who signed the Giving Pledge in 2019, he was convicted in the US four years ago of anti-money laundering compliance failures under the Bank Secrecy Act before receiving a pardon from Donald Trump last year.

We previously reported that Mr Delo had given £4m to Reform prior to his £36m gift; in fact, he had already donated £8m to the party. Defending the donations on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Mr Tice said a "start-up party needs more money than can be provided by membership fees alone". Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart has criticised the sums, accusing Reform of attempting to "buy their way into power".

The party's finances also remain subject to multiple inquiries. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating a £5m gift received by Mr Farage from Mr Harborne prior to the 2024 general election, which Mr Farage maintains was a private transaction exempt from declaration rules. Police are examining allegations of foreign funding breaches following a Channel 4 News report, alongside inquiries by the Metropolitan Police into pre-election donations from Fiona Cottrell and a £1m payment to a firm run by Mr Tice. Reform denies any wrongdoing, and I will be following developments closely.