Who is Christopher Harborne and Why is He Donating to Reform UK?

There’s been some huge political news in Britain — and it has ties to crypto.

Right-wing Reform UK has just secured the biggest donation from a living person in history, made by a prominent crypto investor.

Christopher Harborne is a serial entrepreneur who owes a significant amount of his wealth to his shareholding in Tether.

Reports suggest that he has a 12% stake in the stablecoin issuer — and given the staggering amount of profit the company makes, it’s fair to say this £9m ($12m) contribution is couch change to him.

But who is Christopher Harborne, and what’s the significance of him donating to Reform UK specifically? Let’s find out.

Hey, Big Spender

Harborne lives in Thailand and even has a local name: Chakrit Sakunkrit.

This isn’t the first time he’s dabbled in political donations, either. For many years, he contributed to the Conservative Party — and previously smashed records when he pledged £1m to Boris Johnson.

But a lot of the donations made of late have been to political outfits with ties to right-wing firebrand Nigel Farage.

Back in 2019, he topped the rankings by contributing £6m to the Brexit Party. However, despite receiving more than 644,000 votes in the election that was held that year, none of their 275 candidates ended up becoming an MP.

That being said, momentum has begun to shift — especially after the Brexit Party rebranded to Reform UK.

Fast forward to the 2024 general election, and Reform scooped up 4.1 million votes nationwide, making it the third-most popular party overall. Despite that, Britain’s electoral system meant it only won five seats out of a possible 650. Farage secured one of them, meaning he became an MP for the first time.

And momentum appears to be building. During the local elections held back in May, Reform UK won more councillors than anyone else — gaining control of 10 councils in the process.

The latest opinion polls suggest that 31% would vote for Reform if a general election was called tomorrow, making it more popular than any other party. Labour, who are in government right now, are languishing behind in fourth place on 14%. Should Farage’s party run the table — and successfully navigate the first-past-the-post system — there’s a very real chance he could win the keys to Downing Street.

You’ll be unsurprised to hear that Reform UK is pretty pro-crypto.

Reform UK’s Views on Crypto

Nigel Farage has been a regular on the Bitcoin conference circuit — and back in May, Reform UK set out its crypto policies in detail.

Some of the measures proposed include a flat 10% rate of capital gains tax on digital assets, which is considerably more generous than current levels. It would become illegal for banks to deny or withdraw services from customers who transact in crypto too — with the taxman ordered to build systems so Britons can pay what they owe in digital assets.

And taking a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book, Reform also wants to establish a “sovereign Bitcoin reserve fund” — arguing this would “diversify holdings, signal confidence in digital assets and capture potential long-run appreciation.”

The party believes such a forward-looking approach would deliver a “Brexit dividend” and help the UK gain a competitive advantage following its departure from the EU. Of course, any liberalization in policy would also benefit the likes of Christopher Harborne, and businesses including Tether.

What This Means

The next general election is only due to be held in 2029. Reform UK faces a challenge as it tries to retain this lead in the polls for the next three years, and prove it can govern effectively at a local level.

Whatever happens though, we’re seeing early signs that this election could carry similarities to the campaign that led Trump back to the White House for a second term. While the rules surrounding political donations are different in the UK, we could start to see the crypto lobby rally behind Reform — and funnel their vast resources behind this still-nascent party.

It remains to be seen whether this would be enough for Nigel Farage to become the next prime minister — and from there, deliver this pro-crypto agenda. But with Christopher Harborne’s deep pockets in his corner, and Labour in paralysis as the fallout continues from the budget, the political climate is currently in his favor.

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