Only 22% of Britons Think Political Donations are Fair

Dale Vince has urged Labour MPs to "restore trust in politics by taking private money out of it".

The entrepreneur and campaigner argues that the public's shattered belief in our political system can only be rebuilt if there are "no donations in British politics".

He said: "Let's not fuss over what a donation limit should be, how much is too much and from where, let's end the constant game of dodgy donation 'whack-a-mole' – let's draw a simple line under it all – no donations in British politics. Super cheap, super effective – the end of all arguments and suspicion.

"The biggest single thing we can do to restore trust in politics, is to take private money out of it."

The government has brought in a cap on donations from British citizens living overseas at £100,000 and a temporary ban on all funding from cryptocurrency as part of its Representation of the People Bill.

But Vince says this action, while welcome as a first step, is "insufficient" to halt the malign influence on British politics from debatable sources with deep pockets. Senior Labour figures have questioned whether the public has any appetite to pick up the bill for political campaigning, arguing that individuals would resist paying to fund parties they oppose.

But polling commissioned by Vince's media outlet Babelfish shows there is overwhelming support for a ban on donations with a significant majority believing private money has undue influence on our politics.

Nearly two-thirds of those polled say there should be a legal cap on how much any individual or organisation should be free to hand over, with just 18% stating there should not be a cap, and the highest percentage (26%) believing it should be as small as £10,000.

Cash given to politicians and their parties has been thrust even further into the spotlight after the Guardian newspaper revealed Reform leader Nigel Farage failed to declare a £5million personal gift he received from billionaire cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne – weeks before he changed his mind and decided to run for office as an MP after all.

That is in addition to the £12million the Thai-based donor has since given to Reform UK in 2025 alone. Harborne previously gave large sums to the Tories when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister and also to Reform's predecessor the Brexit Party.

Qinetiq, a firm in which Harborne was the largest single shareholder, received an £80million Ministry of Defence contract from the Conservative government just weeks after he made a £1million donation to the Office of Boris Johnson.

Labour has accused Farage of breaking parliamentary rules by not declaring the £5million in the register of interests for MPs, and the Tories have referred him to the parliamentary standards commissioner.

Farage claims the gift was "purely private" and intended to pay for his security.

Pressure is building on the government to further curb the influence of donors. Labour MP Alex Sobel is proposing a £1million cap on individual political donations in the UK.

The Leeds Central and Headingly MP is tabling an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill to prevent a "very small group of wealthy individuals buying out our whole political system".

A review of foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics was ordered by the government after the conviction of the former Reform politician Nathan Gill for accepting bribes from Russia-linked sources. And the independent report by Sir Philip Rycroft warned there is a risk of foreign interference in UK politics from Iran, Russia and China.

His review also suggested parliament should consider a cap on all individual donations "if it wishes to restore confidence in the political process and keep big money out of UK politics".

New rules being introduced by Labour putting a cap on donations to parties by British citizens living abroad are already under threat of being circumvented. Billionaire Ben Delo, convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business, has given £4m to Reform and now says he will moving back to the UK from Hong Kong for a while so that he can give more money.

The Conservatives have been beset by donor controversies. Former Tory peer Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman are under investigation over their alleged roles in a £148million Covid PPE scandal. Baroness Mone's husband donated more than £170,000 to the Tories before the couple benefited from PPE contracts.