Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics
The Elon Musk-shaped hole in Starmer’s Election Bill
LUCAS AMIN AND PETER GEOGHEGAN
Foreign donations are banned in the UK. At least that’s what the law says.
But, as we’ve seen time and again, foreign money still finds its way into British politics — whether through shady “unincorporated associations” or rich Russians waving chequebooks.
Now, Labour is promising that its proposed Elections Bill will shut off these routes — particularly by cracking down on the use of UK shell companies to funnel foreign cash into campaigns.
But what about legitimate, trading UK companies that are controlled by foreign donors?
A new Democracy for Sale investigation reveals that this is a major loophole in Britain’s political finance laws — allowing foreign nationals to give unlimited sums to UK parties via companies they control.
We identified more than £6 million in political donations from UK-registered companies owned by individuals who do not appear eligible to vote in Britain. These include:
- £750,000 from an American investor and close friend of RFK Jr.
- £70,000 from a Canadian crypto and online gambling mogul based in Antigua, previously a fugitive from US prosecutors.
- Over £500,000 from a bank owned by a Venezuela-born financier who recently pled guilty to a misdemeanour relating to US political contributions.
If these rules are not changed, Elon Musk could legally donate millions to Nigel Farage and Reform UK using the UK turnover of X, Tesla or any other of his subsidiaries — even though he’s not a UK voter.
Responding to our findings, Labour MPs urged the government to ensure the Elections Bill is toughened to close this gap.
“The Elections Bill is a golden opportunity for us to clean up political financing in the UK, and the egregious examples uncovered by this investigation show just how important it is that we get the scope of the Bill right,” said Labour MP Joe Powell.
“We must close any and all loopholes that enable foreign nationals to covertly pump money – and therefore undue influence – into our political system..”
Lib Dem peer Mark Pack also warned that Labour’s current plans “still leave the door wide open for interference from foreign governments or billionaires.”
Our investigation, conducted with anti-corruption groups Transparency International and the Autonomy Institute, cross-referenced Electoral Commission donation data with Companies House records on “Persons of Significant Control” (PSCs).
We found 219 donations from 55 UK companies owned exclusively by foreign nationals who listed their residency as outside of the UK or Ireland.
Among the most striking cases is Calvin Ayre, a gambling and crypto entrepreneur based in Antigua. Ayre, a playboy billionaire once labelled a fugitive by US authorities, settled a criminal case in 2017 with a $500,000 fine and probation.
In July 2023, a UK company he owns, nChainUK, donated £70,000 to the Conservatives — despite posting losses for three consecutive years.
The donation came just months after Bloomberg reported that Ayre was bankrolling a £9.9bn lawsuit in London against major crypto firms, fronted by a UK company linked to former Tory MPs Robert Buckland and Lord Andrew Tyrie.
Ayre’s lawyer told Democracy for Sale he had “no knowledge” of the donation, which was made by nChain’s CEO, and stressed Ayre has never been a director of the company.
Ayre is far from alone.
Britannia Financial Group Ltd gave £550,000 to the Tories between 2019 and 2022. At the time, three-quarters of the firm was owned by Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan-Italian banker who was later arrested in the US for allegedly bribing a Puerto Rican governor. He has since pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
Velutini’s firms have faced scrutiny before: in 2023, a US bank he founded was fined $15 million for “suspicious activity” involving clients in Venezuela, including those linked to bribery and money laundering. Herrera Velutini denied any wrong-doing.
Elsewhere, the UK subsidiary of Singapore’s Mercantile and Maritime Ltd gave £500,000 to Boris Johnson’s election campaign in 2019.
Mercantile and Maritime is owned by Murtaza Lakhani, a Pakistani-Canadian oil tycoon who lists his country of residence as Monaco on Companies House. His businesses have worked with Rosneft, the Russian state oil giant under sanctions.
American billionaires have also used UK firms to donate. Louis Moore Bacon, a hedge fund founder and close friend of Trump’s health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, RFK Jr., has given £761,000 to the Tories through Moore Capital Management.
Bacon also made 15 donations to Republican candidates and organising committees last year, according to data on Open Secrets.
In 2023, Bacon won a $203 million defamation suit against fashion mogul Peter Nygard – launched after Nygard spent $15 million on a smear campaign after Bacon complained about the noise of Nygard’s sex parties.
Meanwhile, companies in the Bloomberg Group, controlled by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, have donated £2.5 million to British parties since 2001 — including £100,000 to Labour and £150,000 to the Lib Dems last year.
Even companies not directly donating have helped fund political activity. At last year’s Lib Dem conference, TikTok paid £8,400 to cover the venue hire for a disco event.
TikTok UK is controlled by Bytedance, majority owned by Chinese billionaire Zhang Yiming, whom the BBC has called “China’s richest man.” British MPs have long flagged concerns about TikTok’s links to China, with parliament closing its official TikTok account three years ago.
Labour says it will introduce measures to curb foreign interference by requiring companies to show that any donations are funded by income generated in the UK or Ireland, and by introducing a new “UK connection” test for corporate donors.
A government spokesperson told Democracy for Sale that it had “set out clear and robust plans to boost transparency of political finances. These ambitious changes will reinforce our democracy and fix vulnerabilities identified by independent bodies, including the Electoral Commission and the National Crime Agency.”
But Labour MP Phil Brickell told us that the government’s Elections Bill needed to make sure that foreign donors would not be able to donate through trading UK companies.
“These findings show once again how we’re playing whack-a-mole with donation rules. In a world where hostile states and foreign oligarchs are trying to subvert our democracy at every turn, we’ve got to make sure our defences are absolutely watertight,” Brickell said.
“The Government must look at closing this loophole in its sorely needed and much welcome Elections Bill.”
Our findings likely understate the true scale of foreign donations.
We initially found 1,862 donations linked to firms with at least one foreign PSC. Many of these also have UK citizens listed, so we can’t confirm who authorised the donation.
After applying a conservative methodology — excluding firms with any UK-based or British PSCs — we identified 219 donations from 55 companies controlled by foreign nationals based abroad.
Duncan Hames of Transparency International said our investigation showed why a cap on donations is urgently needed — something we’ve been working on with campaigners at 38 Degrees.
“British political parties should be serving the public here, not courting foreign donors hiding behind their companies’ presence in the UK,” Hames said.
“Ultimately, our best protection would be legal limits to the size of any individual’s donations—so no hostile actor or vested interest can buy our politics.”
Before we go, a reminder that Democracy for Sale now has its own dedicated YouTube channel where you’ll find all our live discussions, including a fascinating conversation this week about corruption in Britain – and how to fight it – with Dr Sue Hawley.
Do become a subscriber to the channel (it’s free!) to get all the videos – we have a very special live guest next week that I’m sure you’re not going to want to miss.
This article (Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics) was created and published by Democracy for Sale and is republished here under “Fair Use”
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