Unions move to back political cash reforms after Farage’s £72M haul

BRIGHTON, England — Britain’s trade unions are preparing to back a suite of changes to political finance rules after two cryptocurrency tycoons donated a record £72 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Unions had been lobbying the governing Labour Party — to which they gave around £5 million in 2025 — against introducing an annual cap on U.K.-based individual donors, on the basis that it could curb their donations too. But in the wake of Reform’s unprecedented haul, unions are now planning to shift that position and back the idea of further reforms to both spending and donations, two senior union officials not authorized to speak publicly told POLITICO. Farage — who is already facing investigations into his right-wing populist party’s funding sources — announced over the weekend that two cryptocurrency billionaires, Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, had donated £36 million each. Each of those donations was record-breaking in British politics, which currently sets no upper limit on what U.K.-based individuals can hand to a party. Together, they have reignited a row about Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s position on funding. He has so far held off on imposing a cap on domestic donations to political parties. Nigel Farage addresses delegates during the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham, England on Sept. 5, 2026. | Anthony Devlin/Getty Images Both officials quoted above said the Trades Union Congress — which is this week hosting its annual conference in Brighton — is expected to issue a joint statement setting out an updated position on political financing, which could be released as soon as Tuesday. But the talks are politically delicate and the unions have not yet reached agreement. One of the two senior officials said unions are likely to back a cap that applies to wealthy U.K.-based individuals and to trade unions, but — crucially — would be calculated in different ways for these two types of donor. That would mean that while wealthy individuals and unions would both be subject to donations caps, the rules would apply differently for each group. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner told union members Monday: “We will defend our democracy and society from any foreign dictator or fascist oligarch who seeks to divide our country and buy our politics — but we will never undermine the rights of working people to organize collectively and democratically.” Separately, unions are also discussing whether to back a review of how political parties spend their money, both officials quoted above said. Party spending is currently regulated retrospectively for the year before an election, and limits tighten further in the final weeks. This would mirror a move from the Labour government, which tasked the Electoral Commission earlier this summer with reviewing spending limits on political campaigning and reporting back by July 2027. Angela Rayner speaks at the Trades Union Congress in Brighton on Sept. 14, 2026. | Leon Neal/Getty Images The first official quoted above said: “If that money’s already landed [with Reform] and it’s going to stay there, it’s about how much you can spend on, for example, social media advertising.” Change of topic The issue has dominated the start of the TUC’s annual gathering of 47 trade unions, 11 of which have formal financial ties to Labour. The TUC already opposes donations by overseas residents and those which are given in the form of cryptocurrency. It has led to a fierce tussle between unions on the campaigning left, which want to take firmer action against mega-donations, and those closest to Labour that fear their own funding of the party will be undercut. Some union officials also fear that supporting one set of rules for trade unions and a different set for wealthy individuals will be seized upon by opponents on the right. The first union official quoted above insisted they “wouldn’t describe it as a carve-out,” given rules would apply to both groups. But Reform’s Deput