Political Donors Could Face Tougher Residency Rules
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The government is planning to tighten residency rules for political donors to ensure those giving significant amounts of money reside in the UK.
This announcement follows a row over two donations totaling £72m to Reform UK from two British crypto-billionaires who have recently lived abroad.
Reform leader Nigel Farage stated that the donations from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne are "100% compliant with the law today", but he couldn’t confirm their permissibility under proposed rule changes.
The government aims to:
- Change the law on donations to UK political parties from British voters living overseas, including a £100,000 cap backdated to 25 March.
- Introduce a minimum residency period of at least 12 months for the cap to still apply to those who move back to the UK.
It’s unclear when Delo and Harborne returned to the UK.
Current rules allow foreign donations to be illegal in the UK, but British voters living abroad can give as much as they wish to political parties.
MPs have backed the government’s proposals by approving amendments to the Representation of the People Bill. The bill is currently under scrutiny in the House of Lords.
Communities Minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage stated:
"We are considering how we will strengthen the residency requirements, including ensuring that the length of time spent in the UK aligns with broader government policy."
She added that this is "in addition to introducing a robust regime that ensures that donors contributing above the £100,000 annual cap must demonstrate a genuine and ongoing connection" to the UK.
Tax is one area that already has residency requirements, with criteria including being declared resident for tax purposes if one has lived in the UK for at least 183 days in the tax year.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds defended the government’s policy, stating:
"Fundamentally we need to make sure that people who want to influence British politics, who want a say in British politics have a stake in Britain… This should apply to everyone."
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart criticized the government, calling for a universal donation cap to prevent "Farage’s Britain."
