Lords to debate limits on big donations after Reform UK gets £72m
The House of Lords will debate new limits on political donations on Monday after Reform UK received £72m from two billionaires in 24 hours.
The donors are Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne. Both are British and have spent time living abroad, BBC News reported. The bill would limit gifts from British voters who live abroad to £100,000. Ministers want it to apply back to 25 March.
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's spokesman on the economy, said the donations were “entirely in line with the law as it is and as far as they know the law as it will be in future.” He told the BBC the party will not have to return the money.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the new rules would look backwards and anyone who breaks them must pay the money back. The BBC reported it was told both men are now back in the UK. Delo is understood to have returned last year.
The bill before peers
The plan is about overseas electors. That means British people who live abroad but can still vote here. Their gifts would be limited to £100,000 from 25 March. That was the date of the government announcement titled ‘Cap on donations from overseas electors and ban on crypto donations to protect democracy’. Ministers described it as “landmark changes to protect UK democracy from foreign actors and financial influence”, according to the government announcement.
The idea comes from a review by former civil servant Philip Rycroft on foreign influence in UK politics. The Lords Library noted in February that Labour promised in its manifesto to toughen donation rules, in its briefing ‘Reforming the law on donations to political parties’.
Peers have talked about this for months. Hansard, the official record of Parliament, lists a Lords debate on ‘Donations to Political Parties’ on 12 February 2026. That record includes a statement that Elon Musk promised £100 million to Reform UK. Another Lords debate on ‘Political Party Finance and the Electoral Commission’ followed on 2 July 2026.
The residency test
Much depends on people who move back to Britain. The government said the £100,000 limit should still apply to them for the rest of that year and the next year. So a donor who came back last year would be clear of the overseas limit by 2026. Someone who came back more recently would still be covered.
Jenrick said the gifts pass the current tests on who can give money and will pass the future tests. Rayner said the backdated rules apply and money that breaks them must be repaid. The Electoral Commission, which oversees elections, would have to check donation dates, voter registration and where people live.
At present, the rules are strict. The House of Commons Library said foreign donations are banned in the UK. The old 15-year limit on voting from abroad has been scrapped. That means more British people abroad can vote and give money. Ministers said that is why a money limit is now needed.
Pressure for a wider cap
Labour peer Lord Wills said he will try to change the bill to limit gifts from people living in the UK as well. That would turn an overseas rule into a general limit. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the BBC that “a limit on individual donations was necessary.”
A petition on political donations started by Jeremy Stone got more than 140,000 signatures and was discussed in the Commons. Hansard lists the Commons debate on ‘Political Donations’ on 31 March 2025.
The broader context here is that backdated election law is hard to write and hard to enforce. It is like changing the rules after the game has started. Three questions matter on Monday. First, whether peers agree to 25 March or say the law should start on Royal Assent, when it is signed into law. Second, whether the extra year for returners stays. Third, whether the Wills plan grows and forces ministers to decide on a UK limit they did not propose. The answers will decide if the £72m stays, and where big gifts go in future.
