2 private donations of £36m each to one political party - is this the future of democracy in a world at the mercy of tech bros?

[IwantToRetire]

Not particularly interested in discussing Reform. As anyone who wants to do that could set up a thread just like there is one about the Greens.

Of course the money could just be frittered away, but do these donations create an imbalance in terms of other parties having a voice, not just now, but when there is the next General Election.

For info (and there may be others) short bios about each man who has donated. Although, if as stated, they don't expect to decide party policy, maybe their personal history doesn't matter.

https://news.sky.com/story/ben-delo-and-christopher-harborne-who-are-reform-uks-two-mega-donors-13584792

Edited to add: I would ask this question if such donations had been made to any other Party, whether Labour, Tory, Greens etc..

I haven't judged him, just stated the facts, however inconvenient they may be to you.

Now, now - don’t twist it.

’Nice people’

’Corruption and violence’

Your words.

Thomas has never been a nice person. Whether he is a violent person remains to be seen, but according to him there are headlines incoming that may be problematic for Reform.

They could deduct the tax at source just like occupational pensions.

100% of the funding of unions to Labour is the part of the subs contributed by members that have 100% given formal permission to contribute to Labour

Found this;
A trade union member who joins a union that operates a political fund on or after 18 February 2026 is automatically a ‘contributor’ to that union’s political fund, unless they have provided an opt-out notice informing the union of their decision to stop making contributions to the political fund.

So, it would appear that the burden is on the member to actively opt out.

This was also the case prior to March 2018. The Conservative government introduced changes which took effect between 1 March 2018 and 17 February 2026, whereby new members were automatically opted out of contributions to a political fund, unless they opted in. The Labour government has reversed that decision and opted new members back in as the default position. Sneaky.
(Members joining prior to 1 March 2018 are opted in as the default position).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-union-political-funds/trade-union-political-funds-a-guide-for-trade-unions-their-members-and-others

Do you think you need to repeat that?

YouGov survey featured here. Interesting;

Since November 2019, YouGov has published a more detailed bi-annual tracking survey which asks whether there should or should not be a limit on the donations that individuals, businesses and trade unions give to political parties.

It shows the highest level of public support was for an outright ban on all political donations, especially donations from trade unions and businesses, and caps were less popular the higher they were set. Over 50% of respondents supported either a ban, a £500 limit or a £5,000 limit on donations from individuals (55%), business (54%) and trade unions (59%).

Given that trade union donations benefit the Labour Party, it might be expected that union donations are viewed more favourably by Labour voters than other forms of giving. However, 59% of Labour-affiliated voters support either a ban, or a cap of £500 or £5,000 on donations from trade unions.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-11072/

Sorry, not with you?

Oh, I get it now - ha, ha.

😉 ❤️