Housing Secretary Steve Reed's Report-stage amendment applies the ban retrospectively to 25 March 2026, treating any Cryptocurrency donation to a registered party as coming from an impermissible donor.Source: UK Elections 2026 coverage

Was the Representation of the People Bill revived after being dropped from the wash-up?

Yes. The government accepted the Rycroft Review in full on 6 July 2026 and revived the bill in the new parliamentary session; it reached Report stage and Third Reading in the Commons in the week of 14 July 2026.Source: UK Elections 2026 coverage

Does the Representation of the People Bill affect Christopher Harborne's donations?

No. The bill targeted Cryptocurrency donations, not conventional cash donations. Harborne's approximately £12m in donations to Reform UK were made as conventional financial transfers and would not have been subject to the retrospective return requirement.Source: Electoral Commission

Background

The Representation of the People Bill is a 2026 piece of UK primary legislation overhauling election and political-finance law. Drawing on Rycroft Review recommendations, it introduces the largest changes to UK electoral law since PPERA 2000: a retrospective ban on Cryptocurrency donations, an overseas-elector residency test, and tighter company-donation rules.

The bill looked dead in April: excluded from the pre-dissolution wash-up and absent from May's King's Speech, stalled at its 9th Commons committee sitting with Parliament prorogued around 29 April 2026. That changed on 6 July 2026, when the government accepted the Rycroft Review in full and revived the bill in the new session; it reached Report stage and Third Reading in the week of 14 July.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed tabled a government amendment at Report stage treating any Cryptocurrency donation as coming from an impermissible donor, applied retrospectively to 25 March 2026. Overseas donors now face a one-year residency test before giving over £100,000, and company donations are assessed on five-year post-tax profits. Labour backbencher Liam Byrne tabled amendment NC34 pressing for a permanent statutory ban rather than a reversible moratorium. Reform UK reached polling day on 7 May with no statutory duty to return its crypto donations; the revived bill now writes those rules into law after the result.