From the Guardian · · 1m 50s
What £72m buys Nigel Farage
Two crypto billionaires just handed Reform UK a war chest bigger than the legal election spending cap.
In brief
Two crypto billionaires just handed Reform UK a war chest bigger than the legal election spending cap. Money this early buys organisers, data and ads that rivals won't fund until the campaign starts, but the retrospective spending cap means Reform could overspend before the race even begins. Originally reported by the…
A Ferrari in every seat
Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo gave Reform UK £72m in a single weekend. Farage once joked a £5m Harborne gift was unconditional enough to buy Ferraris with.
“he could spend his £5m gift from Christopher Harborne on Ferraris if he wanted to”
Manpower comes first
The party is already recruiting more than 60 local organisers. The cash could staff all 632 constituencies, but experienced regional staff in target seats is the smarter buy.
Knocking on doors builds data
ReformPro and better canvassing tools only work if the data feeding them is accurate. That means door-to-door work to find switching voters and persuadable non-voters.
“it is boots on the ground that ensure the data being fed into those tools is as accurate as it can be”
Years of head start
Most parties deploy local organising close to polling day. Starting now hands Reform a lead, though rivals hold legacy voter data Reform largely lacks. Direct mail is uncapped outside election periods.
Winning the air war
Paid social ads can be micro-targeted locally, professionally filmed and bought without any legal limit on YouTube and Facebook. Reform already has broadcast studios and hires stadiums and aircraft hangars.
“It can spend large amounts of money buying social media advertising completely legally and without limit”
Buying readiness for power
Theo Bertram of the Social Market Foundation reckons £25m of top consultants could help draft the legal route to mass deportations and evicting non-UK citizens from social housing. Cash could also fix candidate vetting and fund judicial reviews.
The retrospective trap
If Andy Burnham calls a snap election, the roughly £34m Great Britain spending cap applies to the previous 12 months. Spend freely now and Reform could be caught out. That may be reason enough to go early.
“election spending rules are retrospective for the previous years”
What to remember
Money this early buys organisers, data and ads that rivals won't fund until the campaign starts, but the retrospective spending cap means Reform could overspend before the race even begins.
