The invisible man bankrolling Reform's push across the country

Nigel Farage aims to win big in May's elections - helped by a record £9m donation from a secretive billionaire. Christopher Harborne lives in Thailand and has previously used his massive cryptocurrency riches to support the Tory and Brexit parties. What influence does his cash buy and does UK democracy need stronger defences against overseas money? Ceri Thomas investigates

- Ceri Thomas investigates

There has never been a British political donor quite like Christopher Harborne. There have been donors who gave a lot, and donors about whom only a little was known.

But a donor so generous with his money and so parsimonious about divulging what makes him tick is something new.

The £9m Harborne gave to Reform UK last August was the single biggest political donation ever made by an individual in the UK; more than twice as much as all those declared by the Conservative party in the same quarter of last year (in a bumper quarter for them), and four times what Labour pulled in.

The few known facts about the man who gave the money are recited whenever he is mentioned, as if they add up to something. He has lived in Thailand for perhaps 25 years, he goes by Chakrit Sakunkrit as well as Christopher Harborne, his businesses are mostly to do with aviation but his real wealth comes from cryptocurrency. He gave small sums to the Conservatives starting a couple of decades ago, but over time he got serious: £6m to the Brexit party in 2019, and £1m to the office of the then Tory PM Boris Johnson in 2022, before Reform hit the jackpot.

"Anyone can give a donation or loan to a political party," according to the Electoral Commission, which regulates these things. It adds that "there is no limit on how much someone can give", on just one condition: the donor has to be on the electoral roll or registered as an overseas voter for UK elections.

This is a bar so low it barely constitutes a trip hazard. It might be harder to buy a British football club than a political party, if that is what you wanted to do.

For years, the funding of Britain's populist right has been opaque. In that respect, at least, Harborne's donation clears up any mystery; for the moment, he is Reform's money, or very nearly. In the quarter when it was given, his £9m donation was almost 90% of the party's total.