THE government announced new measures today to crack down on foreign donations and cash funnelled into politics via dubious front companies.

Fresh guidelines will limit donations to £100,000 for donors coming to Britain from overseas, for a year after they arrive.

The move builds on measures already announced to cap foreign donations at £100,000, backdated to March 2025, and is expected to hit two of Reform UK’s biggest benefactors: Thailand-based cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne and Hong Kong-based Ben Delo.

Party’s leader Nigel Farage is already under investigation from Parliament’s standards commissioner over a £5 million gift he received from Mr Harborne. Mr Farage insists that cash was to fund personal security but he now faces calls for a second investigation over assistance he has received from financier George Cotterell.

Mr Cottrell — who was jailed for eight months in the US in 2017 after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer — at the last election funded three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media as well as offered up his London home near Buckingham Palace for the Reform leader’s use.

Company donations will also face greater scrutiny under extra amendments to the Representation of the People Bill, with businesses expected to produce details on post-tax profits for the past five years as well as revenue, in a bid to shed light on exactly how a firm makes its money and make it harder for wealth donors to simply funnel donations through them as a front.

Candidates too will face tougher scrutiny, with requirement to declare donations above £2,230 received prior to officially becoming a candidate and prove the cash was from legitimate sources. 

The new rules for candidates will, however, not be backdated.

Steve Reed, the government’s Communities Secretary and co-founder of Labour Together, a company which donated some £1.1 million to right-wing Labour parliamentary candidates in 2024, insisted: “British democracy is not for sale. These tough new rules will shut down dodgy funding, stop foreign money influencing our elections and keep our democracy strong.

“By holding overseas donors to tougher standards and requiring candidates to prove where their funding comes from, we are taking world-leading action to protect the integrity of our elections and tackle the threats we face from abroad.”