Nigel Farage received an undisclosed £5 million gift from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne weeks before deciding to stand in the 2024 general election, an investigation by The Guardian has found.

Harborne graduated from Downing College in 1985 with an MA in engineering, after attending Westminster School.

The billionaire made his money as an investor, with a significant portion of his wealth derived from a 12% stake in Tether, a cryptocurrency.

Harborne also invests heavily in defence, including in the British defence technology firm QinetiQ.

Harborne was appointed a Wilkins Fellow at Downing College in 2019, a title awarded to significant benefactors in recognition of their financial contributions to the College.

The title of Wilkins Fellow is one of the College’s highest titular fellowships, ranking above Fellow Commoner, Morgan Fellow, Bye-Fellow, and Visiting Fellow, and second only to Foundation Fellow.

Farage and Harborne have a longstanding relationship. In the same year Harborne was made a Wilkins Fellow, he donated £10 million to the Brexit Party ahead of the 2019 general election.

Last year, he gave a total of £12 million to Reform UK, including a £9 million donation that marked the largest single donation ever made by a living person to a British political party.

Over the past seven years, Harborne has donated over £22 million to Farage’s political party, accounting for two thirds of all funding received.

Prior to receiving the undisclosed £5 million gift, Farage had said he did not intend to stand as an MP. However, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from Harborne, he announced that he would stand for election in Clacton, Essex. He also pledged to remain as leader of Reform UK for five years.

A spokesperson for Reform said that it was a “personal unconditional gift” and Farage’s decision to stand as an MP was “entirely unrelated”.

Farage has now been referred to Parliament’s standards watchdog over the undeclared gift by the Conservatives, who cited rules that require MPs to declare any “personal benefit” they have received in the 12 months before taking office, and to do so within a month of being elected.

The parliamentary rules state: “Both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered.”

The UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate Harborne’s undisclosed gift. The commission said it would respond to the Conservatives by 12 May, after local elections in Scotland, Wales and parts of England on Thursday (07/05).

Farage had told friends that one reason for his unwillingness to stand as an MP was the financial toll he believed his political career had placed on him. He has also previously stated that “there’s no money in politics”.

The £5 million gift also came as Farage was putting pressure on Rishi Sunak to accept an election pact with the Conservatives. Harborne has said he supported the idea at the time, and had previously discussed it with Farage.

After being approached by The Guardian about the gift, neither Harborne nor Farage provided a comment. Instead, lawyers for Harborne and Reform UK requested more time. They then confirmed to The Telegraph that Harborne had made the donation, allegedly to pay for Farage’s personal security. Until that point, neither Harborne nor Farage had spoken publicly about the gift.

Keir Starmer has proposed legislation to ban cryptocurrency donations to political parties, and impose a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens living abroad. Harborne told The Telegraph in April: “I think I’m the reason for that legislation”.

He claimed that Starmer’s attempt to block his donations to Reform UK would not deter him, stating: “ I don’t believe the Government has a right to stop me, and they won’t. There is always a way, we just don’t know what it’s going to be yet.”

Harborne said he believes he could successfully challenge any legal ban in court, though he has not ruled out returning to Britain if necessary to circumvent it.

He added that when he heard about Starmer’s plans to block his donations, his reaction was: “Fine, in that case I’ll give even more money.”

The crypto billionaire was a longstanding donor to the Conservatives before switching his allegiance to Reform. On the £5 million gift to Farage, Harborne insisted: “I wasn’t expecting anything in return apart from ensuring his safety.”

He continued: “I gave him the money because of my great admiration for the decades of work he had done to achieve Brexit. He had stood down from politics and barely had any income before he went into the [I’m a Celebrity …] jungle.”

In 2019, Harborne was with Farage when a milkshake was thrown at him in Newcastle. Harborne said this led him to decide “to support Nigel’s security not just now, but for the rest of his life”.

In the same interview, Farage said: “This money was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life.

“I have tried and failed in the past to get security funded by the Home Office and I don’t think the state will ever help me. […] Christopher is an ardent supporter who is deeply concerned for my safety.”

Farage has received taxpayer-funded security since becoming an MP. However, a spokesperson for Reform UK said: “He does not receive any state-funded security.”

The University of Cambridge Left Society told Varsity: “Farage must return the undeclared £5 million donated by Harborne, and Downing College must reconsider the fellowship awarded to Harborne in 2019.

“As seen in Bangor in February of this year, Reform UK have threatened to restrict state funding for universities that challenge the party if they form a government. Downing, and thereby the University as a whole, should not feed into their intimidation. With net assets of nearly £250 million, Downing can tell Harborne to take his money elsewhere; we demand they do so.”

According to Downing’s 2004 newsletter, Downing College Boat Club (DCBC) received “an extremely generous donation” from Harborne that year. Harborne also rowed in a race with a Downing alumni crew in 2018, and previously served as captain of DCBC.

Downing’s Ordinances state: “The title of Wilkins Fellow may be conferred on any benefactor, or agreed representative of any benefactor, who has shown great munificence to the College, as determined by the Governing Body.”

They also maintain that “The Governing Body may appoint a titular Fellow under Statute XIV to any Committee other than the Remuneration Committee”.

The College’s Statutes outline that a Wilkins Fellow “is not a Fellow for the purposes of these Statutes and shall not be a member of the Governing Body but shall otherwise have such duties and enjoy such privileges as the Governing Body may determine”.

They continue: “The Governing Body may for grave cause terminate a person’s tenure of the title of […] Wilkins Fellow”.

Downing College, Christopher Harborne, Nigel Farage, and Reform UK were contacted for comment.