Farage’s sugar daddy to sue Reform defector

On 13 May, we reported that Nigel Farage was suing Reform UK defector Ben Habib. He’s doing so because Habib accused Farage of conspiring with Boris Johnson and an offshore crypto billionaire to rig the 2019 election. Now, Chris Harborne – the billionaire in question – has also announced his intent to sue Habib:

Remember when Ben Habib claimed that Christopher Harborne gave £1M each to Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage to help Boris get elected & persuade Nigel to stand down in 2019, then challenged him to sue?

Well, Harborne has accepted the challenge and is now suing Ben Habib. pic.twitter.com/Xgq4815eDv

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) May 25, 2026

Reform sue-K

Habib was once the co-deputy leader of Reform. When he left, he made it clear that his problem with Reform was Farage and how he runs the party:

Advance UK is a democratic movement. Members endorse our mission, not the other way around. No censorship. No cronyism. Just serious, open politics. pic.twitter.com/lItBkNsKBz

— Ben Habib (@BackBrexitBen) August 9, 2025

It’s worth noting that Habib has the same awful opinions as Farage; he just doesn’t like being micromanaged by him.

The comments from Habib, which landed him in trouble, are as follows:

I have never said this publicly before, but … now that we’ve discovered five million quid went to Farage in 2024, I am obliged to disclose the million quid, which I believe went to Farage in late 2022 as well. And that smacks to me of a deal.

The 2019 general election was sewn up between Nigel Farage, Christopher Harborne and Boris Johnson. And it was a monetary deal. That’s how I see it.

Farage responded:

My lawyers have formally written to Ben Habib.

They demanded an immediate apology and public retraction for the baseless allegations he made today.

I do not take legal action often. But I will not accept slander & politically motivated smears after winning a national election.

While some have reported Habib said Harborne gave Farage and Johnson £1m each in 2019, Habib actually said these payments came later. He did, however, describe 2019 as a “monetary deal”. And this is important, because Reform UK (then the Brexit Party) stood down to give Johnson and the Tories a better shot at winning.

Habib has responded to the latest legal case by stating:

No one can bully me.

Foreign interference

Christopher Harborne – the man now suing Habib – is a longtime funder of Farage. This recently attracted headlines because we learned Farage had accepted a £5m ‘gift’ from the man – allegedly to pay for his security – which Farage neglected to declare:

🚨NEW: Christopher Harborne is suing Advance UK leader Ben Habib for defamation.

Christopher is the Thai-based billionaire who gave Nigel Farage £5 million to fund his security. pic.twitter.com/0BgC41qRna

— The Mercian (@TheMercianNews) May 25, 2026

This is all causing problems for Farage, with the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire highlighting the following (paraphrased by Alonso Gurmendi):

1) Farage says he won’t run
2) crypto billionaire pays him £5mill
3) Farage U-turns and runs
4) Farage hides the donation
5) Farage announces if he wins the election he will slash capital gains tax for crypto firms

The BBC has since said Farage is ducking them. This is a shocking turn of events, because Farage was previously the most-interviewed man in British politics. He was also holding regular press conferences. Now, Farage is mostly appearing via pre-recorded videos like the following:

The optics say it all: Farage, a public school boy in cords and tweed, fresh from receiving £5m from another public school boy, nodding along as Kenyon argues that Britain’s real problem is teenagers who cannot be hired on the minimum wage. https://t.co/gA42bUhOKE

— Dr Iain Overton (@iainoverton) May 23, 2026

Excuses

Farage’s most recent excuse is claiming the Russians hacked his phone. According to him, only four people knew about the £5m gift. The problem is no one cares how the info got out, and Farage has failed to provide evidence for this alleged hack.

On the same day he said no one can bully him, Habib shared the following message from podcaster David Henry Headley:

Nigel, you’re missing the point.

I don’t care who hacked your phone. The real story is that you’ll happily take money from almost anyone.

Spare us the “man of the people” routine.

You’re a grifter, and people can see it.

Farage and Harborne can sue Habib if they like, but in doing so they’re going to draw more attention to the suspicious £5m gift. And as Maddison Wheeldon reported for the Canary:

Nigel Farage could finally face his comeuppance as the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner launches one investigation, while a further probe may follow after a complaint from the Conservatives.

Following reports and widespread coverage of Farage taking a ‘gift’ of £5m from foreign-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, which he failed to declare, the commissioner is now finally investigating the Reform UK leader for breaching the code of conduct.

In other words, we encourage both men to launch as many legal cases as they can.

Featured image via Ryan Jenkinson (Getty Images) / Christopher Furlong (Getty Images)