Unions at loggerheads over party funding cap after blockbuster Reform donation
Trade unions have taken aim at “stratospheric” donations and the flow of “dark money into UK politics” after Reform revealed it had pocketed a staggering £72m from just two supporters.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), which groups together some of the largest British unions, stopped short of calling for an outright cap on individual donations but urged policymakers to “clean up our politics and strengthen public trust in our democratic system”.
The TUC drew a sharp line between what it called “crypto and corporate cash” and union money, which it characterised as “the cleanest money in politics”.
The likes of GMB and Unison have long been major donors to Labour and historically were responsible for the largest individual political party donations, with the governing party scooping up almost £30m since 2021.
But those contributions have since been dwarfed by crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, who last week smashed donation records to contribute £36m each to Reform within 24 hours.
The combined £72m also exceeds the total raised by every UK political party last year, which stood at just over £69m. Delo, who made the first gift, was convicted in the US for failing to implement anti-money laundering controls at BitMEX, the crypto exchange he founded. He received a 30-month probation sentence and $10m (£7.4m) fine, but was pardoned by President Trump last year.
In a conference motion titled ‘Cleaner Politics’, tabled by finance union Accord and approved today by congress, the TUC condemned the flow of “dark money into UK politics with insufficient transparency or regulation”.
On Monday, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak used his address at a conference for trade unions to call for a “proper conversation about how we clean up our politics”.
As recently as July, GMB wrote to affiliated MPs urging them to vote down amendments to the Representation of the People Bill that would have capped donations at £100,000 or £1m.
Labour divided over capping donations
The row over caps to donations has split Labour backbenchers. According to Politico, Labour peer Michael Wills will put forward an amendment calling for a cap on all donations, except those coming from unions. Reform UK has threatened to curb union funding if it gets into government if Labour changes rules to force them to rescind the £72m gifts.
MPs have raised questions over the terms of Harborne and Delo’s mega donations. Currently, British nationals are only able to make donations if they are registered to vote. There is no upper limit on political donations in the UK, although since 2000, donations over £11,180 must be declared to the Electoral Commission.
The government has approved amendments to the Representation of the People Bill tightening residency rules for donors, and is examining whether these could apply retrospectively from March 2025 — a move that could force Delo and Harborne to hand back their donations. Reform UK insists donations are eligible within the existing rules and the party has attacked Labour for stopping “legitimate donors like this”.
Just days before the multi-million-pound gifts, the party came under fire after a Channel 4 investigation showed senior aides discussing how to disguise foreign donations. The Metropolitan Police’s Special Enquiry Team has launched a criminal investigation into the party. Reform denies breaking electoral law.
City AM understands that the 11 Labour-affiliated unions will meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue, with Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham leading calls for a cap between £500,000 and £1m.
Without a cap, UK political donations are set to become dominated by a small number of major benefactors. According to campaign group Transparency International, in 2015, donations of £1m or more from individuals and companies accounted for one per cent of all private political donations. By 2024, such high-value donations made up 35 per cent of the total.