Nigel Farage’s security paid for by Reform UK despite claim over £5m gift

Exclusive: Sources reveal party is covering costs – raising new questions about leader’s explanation for billionaire’s gift

Nigel Farage’s personal security has been paid for out of Reform UK’s central funds despite his claim that these expenses would be covered by an undisclosed gift of £5m from a billionaire donor, sources have told the Guardian.

The Reform leader has had the central party pay for a team and two cars ever since a reduction in the security provided by the taxpayer after a review in 2025.

The disclosure raises fresh questions about Farage’s explanation of the £5m he was given by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

After the Guardian revealed the gift, Harborne said it was intended “to support Nigel’s security not just now but for the rest of his life”.

Farage initially said: “This money was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life.”

He suggested that the Home Office did not offer him any security support. In fact, though it was reduced in scale, he was offered a bodyguard, a driver and car – similar to the provision made for Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the official opposition.

Farage refused this, and since then his security has been paid for from central party funds. These costs have amounted to more than £150,000 in the past year, sources said.

The arrangement has caused consternation for some within the party. “It’s completely at odds with the narrative he’s tried to sell the public,” a Reform source said.

Asked about Farage expensing the party, a spokesperson for Reform UK said: “As a standard practice, we do not comment on security matters.”

The party refused to answer questions about whether Farage had spent any of the £5m on security costs to date. It also refused to address questions about why Farage had refused the offer of a taxpayer-funded package.

The Guardian understands that the party makes a distinction between security required as a result of its leader’s political activities, which it pays for, and his potential longer-term personal security needs, which the gift was intended to provide for.

Bridget Phillipson, the Labour party chair, said: “Nigel Farage’s excuses over his secret £5m ‘gift’ have fallen apart. You can’t trust a word he says. From secret gifts, to police investigations into Reform’s finances, to donations from a convicted fraudster – Reform are up to their necks in sleaze and scandal. Farage and his party are simply not fit for office. It’s time for him to get his story straight and be honest with the public.”

A Conservative party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage variously described his fishy bung from an overseas crypto billionaire as a reward for Brexit, cash he can spend on Ferraris or the horses if he wants, the list goes on. It is no wonder people are asking questions, and the public are entitled to a straight answer. Nigel Farage should come clean about where the £5m has gone and what it was really for.”

Zia Yusuf, Reform’s spokesperson for home affairs, complained publicly that the party was having to seek fresh support from donors to meet Farage’s security costs in October 2025.

Harborne gave Farage £5m shortly before he stood as an MP in the 2024 general election. On becoming an MP, Farage was offered and accepted taxpayer-funded security, which he used until the autumn of 2025.

Harborne had been the dominant party donor in recent years until he was joined by his fellow crypto tycoon Ben Delo in donating a further £36m each in September.

Costs charged to Reform by Farage have included security changes to his properties, including ones used by his family members, according to sources.

The security team funded by Reform has also been used by Farage for personal activities, sources said.

Since Harborne’s initial claim that the gift was intended to fund his security arrangements, Farage’s account of what the £5m gift was for has varied. He has said he could spend it on Ferraris, or that it was a reward for Brexit campaigning, and at other times he has tried to suggest it was not political but for his security for life.

Footage gathered by the undercover reporting group Verbatim and shared with the Guardian last month appeared to show that Farage’s close aide Dan Jukes believed it was a PR mistake for Farage to suggest it was for anything other than security.

“That was not the line to take from the press office,” Jukes said, after Farage suggested the money was a reward for his political campaigning in an interview with the Sun.

Jukes has since stood down from Reform and he denies any wrongdoing.

Lawyers for Harborne have previously said he “expected nothing in return” for the money and “did not envisage Mr Farage returning to politics”.

The timeline for the gift is disputed. Lawyers for Harborne have said the gift was made on 5 April 2024. According to financial industry sources, some of the £5m was not received until the end of May, just before Farage announced on 3 June that he would stand as an MP.

The Guardian has also reported that Farage told senior Reform figures he would need “a million a year” to cover lost earnings if he stood for parliament in 2024.