Farage’s party has had to give back almost £200,000 in donations
Reform had to give back £193,100 in unlawful donations from 18 donors in the past year – while other major political parties did not register any impermissible donations.
According to the Financial Times, eleven of the donations Reform returned were made by people living overseas, in Monaco, Jersey and Germany.
Others were rejected because the donor had not given required information such as their addresses. Some came from a company that had shown insufficient evidence of trading activity.
The largest impermissible donation, £100,000, was made in May by Bellcave Limited, a holding company used by investment firm Greybull Capital.
At the time, Companies House records showed that Bellcave had reported no trading activity.
The following month, Greybull donated £100,000 instead.
In April, Reform returned £30,000 donated by Francesco Dixit Dominus, the Italian chief financial officer of Viaro Energy, an oil and gas company.
Dixit Dominus’ country of residence was not specified on Electoral Commission records, indicating he was not registered to vote in the UK at the time of donation.
Rob Ford, professor of political science at Manchester University, told the FT: “This suggests Reform is attracting attention from potential donors abroad, seemingly ones who are not familiar with British electoral law.”
Ford added that some of the money may be “of dubious provenance”, but it could also be due to Reform being “a young and fast growing party attracting a new class or network of donors abroad who aren’t familiar with the rules”.
According to Electoral Commission data, Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party did not receive any impermissible donations over the past year.
Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe has received and rejected three impermissible donations worth £7,000 over the past year.
Under UK electoral rules, only individuals on the electoral register can make donations. UK-registered companies are also able to donate, even if they are foreign-owned.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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