Lord Anthony Bamford, the billionaire chairman of JCB and one of the Conservatives’ most prolific donors, has donated £200,000 to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, signaling increasing business support for the populist party.
JCB confirmed the donation on Saturday, saying it had donated the same amount to both the Conservative Party and Reform UK in recent weeks.
“Both the Conservative Party and Reform UK believe in small business and that is why JCB has donated £200,000 each,” the company said.
The move marks a significant shift for Bamford, who has donated over £9 million to the Conservatives and was one of Boris Johnson’s top donors, even hosting the former prime minister’s wedding reception.
Bamford, a long-time Brexit supporter who helped finance the Vote Leave campaign, has not yet donated to Farage’s party. However, his company sponsored Reform UK’s annual conference in September and played a prominent role at Farage’s campaign events.
At the start of Reform’s local election campaign in March, Farage gave his speech on one of JCB’s pothole filling machines – a symbolic nod to Bamford’s company and its links to British manufacturing.
Last year Bamford revealed he had paid for an £8,000 helicopter ride for Farage from Kent to JCB’s headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire.
Farage welcomed the donation as evidence that Reform UK is gaining credibility with entrepreneurs and small businesses. The party has long claimed that “big business dominates government policy” and small businesses are left “without a voice.”
On Monday, Farage announced the creation of a new small business advisory group, chaired by Checkatrade founder Kevin Byrne, to help shape Reform’s economic policy.
“Unlike other party leaders, I started my own business in 1993, so I know how difficult it can be,” Farage said. “It’s the big companies that determine policy. The small companies don’t even get an insight.”
He also reiterated his opposition to the government’s IR35 rules, which affect contractors and freelancers, and attacked Labour’s planned workers’ rights reforms, which he said would impose a “crippling burden” on employers.
Reform UK has struggled to attract major donors despite rising poll numbers and has relied heavily on internal funding from senior figures such as Richard Tice, who serves as both deputy chairman and main funder.
According to the Electoral Commission, the Conservatives raised £6.3 million in the first half of this year – around three times the £2.1 million raised by Reform UK.
However, the balance may be starting to shift. In October, property tycoon Nick Candy confirmed he had fulfilled his £1m fundraising pledge to reform, while Bamford’s contribution marked the party’s first major donation from an established Tory supporter.
A spokesman for Reform UK declined to comment on the donation, but Farage publicly thanked Bamford during Monday’s event, calling it “a sign that small businesses in Britain are coming forward.”
