Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, the Guardian can reveal.

Farage had already stated he did not intend to stand as a prospective MP but U-turned within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thai-based businessman.

In July 2024, Farage became an MP for the first time and has since stated he now expects to become prime minister at the next general election.

After being approached by the Guardian about the gift, neither he nor Harborne provided a comment – instead lawyers for Reform UK and Harborne pleaded for more time. Farage then confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that he had received the gift, saying that it was to pay for his personal security.

Until that point neither Harborne nor Farage had spoken publicly about the £5m gift. It did not need to be declared to the parliamentary authorities as Farage was not a sitting MP at the time.

At the time of the gift, Farage had not announced that he would run for the seat of Clacton-on-Sea, and therefore may not have needed to declare it to the electoral commission.

Asked on Monday by the Guardian about the gift, Reform sent a legal letter asking for more time to respond. The deadline was extended until Wednesday morning. The Telegraph then published its interview with Farage ahead of the deadline.

The money underlines what a pivotal figure Harborne has become in British politics – bankrolling Farage personally and the parties he has led over the past seven years.

Last year he donated £9m to Reform UK – the largest ever single donation by a living person to a British political party.

In total, he gave £12m to the party in 2025.

The £5m gift to Farage is likely to raise fresh questions for the Reform leader, given what he said in the run-up to the last election, and his more recent remarks about his relationship with Harborne.

On 23 May 2024, Farage declared he would not stand as an MP in the July poll, putting an end to weeks of speculation that he would make an eighth attempt to enter parliament.

In a post on X, he explained: “I have thought long and hard as to whether I should stand in the upcoming general election. I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go further than that.”

He also said he wanted to be free to campaign in the US presidential election later that year.

“Important though the general election is, the contest in the United States of America on 5 November has huge global significance,” he said.

One reason for his unwillingness to once again stand for parliament, he told friends, was the financial toll he believed his political career had placed on him. He has previously declared “there’s no money in politics”.

However, less than a fortnight later Farage had changed his mind, announcing on 3 June that he would stand for election in Clacton, Essex.

He also committed to remain as leader of Reform UK for five years.

After Harborne donated £9m to Reform, Farage said he spoke to the businessman “maybe once a month, maybe once every six weeks”, but insisted: “I’ve not promised him a single thing in return for his donation.”

He said: “Does he want anything from me? No. Absolutely nothing in return at all.”

The disclosure of the gift is also set to increase scrutiny of Harborne, who has also bankrolled the Conservative party.

He spends the majority of his time in Thailand, and uses a Thai name, Chakrit Sakunkrit. A large chunk of his wealth derives from a 12% shareholding in Tether, a cryptocurrency.

The £5m also came as Farage put pressure on Rishi Sunak to accept an election pact with the Conservatives, something that Harborne has said he had favoured at the time and previously discussed with Farage.

The huge financial boost to Farage may also raise questions over whether there ought to be greater transparency over the finances of MPs shortly before they assume office.

Farage had complained of being “skint” in a 2017 interview and had fallen below the threshold to hold a luxury bank account at Coutts, an arm of NatWest in 2023.

The bank required its clients to invest £1m with the bank or to hold £3m in savings.

Harborne and Farage have a longstanding relationship.

The billionaire donated £10m to the Brexit party ahead of the 2019 election. At the time, Farage stood down many of his candidates who might have taken votes from the Conservatives, effectively helping to secure the landslide victory for Boris Johnson.

Johnson received £1m from Harborne to run his private office after he stood down as prime minister in 2022.

The Guardian put a series of questions to Farage and Harborne about the gift. Both pleaded for more time. At the time of publication, they had still not provided any formal comment.

Lawyers for Harborne said that “your enquiry is replete with speculation and assumptions that do not appear to be grounded in any evidence”.

Reform did not respond.

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