Key facts
- Reform UK's central funds paid for Farage's security team and two cars, costing more than £150,000 in the past year, sources said.
- Farage refused a reduced Home Office package of a bodyguard, a driver and a car offered after a 2025 review.
- Reform UK said it does not comment on security matters and did not answer whether any of the £5m was spent on security.
- Zia Yusuf said publicly in October 2025 that Reform was seeking fresh donor support to meet Farage's security costs.
- Lawyers for Harborne said the gift was made on April 5, 2024; financial industry sources said some arrived at the end of May.
Reform UK's central funds have paid for Nigel Farage's personal security team and two cars since a 2025 review reduced the taxpayer-funded protection offered to him, sources told the Guardian in a report published on November 13, 2026. The costs have amounted to more than £150,000 in the past year, the sources said.
The arrangement sits against Farage's earlier account that his security would be covered by an undisclosed £5m gift from 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 said the money "was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life" and suggested the Home Office had offered him no security support.
The Home Office did offer a bodyguard, a driver and a car, reduced in scale from earlier provision and similar to what is made available to Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the official opposition, according to the report. Farage refused the offer. A Reform UK spokesperson said: "As a standard practice, we do not comment on security matters." The party did not answer whether Farage had spent any of the £5m on security or why he refused the taxpayer-funded package.
The Guardian said the party draws a distinction between security needed for its leader's political activities, which it pays for, and his longer-term personal security, which the gift was meant to cover. A Reform source said the arrangement was "completely at odds with the narrative he's tried to sell the public".
Labour party chair Bridget Phillipson said Farage's "excuses over his secret £5m 'gift' have fallen apart". A Conservative party spokesperson said Farage should "come clean about where the £5m has gone".
Zia Yusuf, Reform's spokesperson for home affairs, complained publicly in October 2025 that the party was having to seek fresh support from donors to meet Farage's security costs. Harborne was the party's dominant donor in recent years until Ben Delo joined him 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 family members, and the Reform-funded security team has been used for his personal activities, sources said. Farage's account of what the £5m was for has varied, including that he could spend it on Ferraris or that it was a reward for Brexit campaigning. Footage gathered by the undercover reporting group Verbatim and shared with the Guardian last month appeared to show close aide Dan Jukes saying it was a PR mistake to suggest the money was for anything other than security. Jukes has since stood down from Reform and denies any wrongdoing. Lawyers for Harborne have said he "expected nothing in return" and "did not envisage Mr Farage returning to politics".