Billionaire Tory donor gives £200,000 to Reform UK

The company owned by the billionaire Conservative donor Lord Bamford has donated £200,000 to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. The JCB chair, who has given millions of pounds to the Tories and who bankrolled Boris Johnson’s wedding celebrations, disclosed the donation at the weekend, alongside one of equal size to the Conservatives. The Staffordshire-based heavy machinery manufacturer said it had donated to the Tories and Reform because it wanted to support parties that “believe in small business”. Related: Tory donor Lord Bamford funds helicopter flight for Nigel Farage JCB is the world’s third-largest construction equipment company, with 22 plants on four continents, employing 19,000 people worldwide. Its sales turnover in 2024 was £5.8bn. Bamford, who retired as a Conservative peer last year, took over the business started by his father in 1975. His family is one of the richest in Britain, with wealth estimated at £9.5bn by the Sunday Times. The donation to Reform marks the latest shift by Bamford to build closer connections with Farage’s party after funding an £8,000 helicopter trip for the Reform leader last year. JCB was a prominent business exhibitor at Reform’s annual conference in Birmingham in September, parking one of its familiar yellow diggers in the hall of the National Exhibition Centre. Reform has previously said that Bamford and Farage are friends. The party has been approached for comment. Farage has sought to build closer ties with business, as his party, which is leading in the opinion polls, attempts to demonstrate readiness for forming the next UK government. Several Conservative donors have donated to Reform, including the financier Jeremy Hosking, and Charlie Mullins, who previously donated to the Tories through his business Pimlico Plumbers. A spokesperson for JCB said it had 800 suppliers in the UK and the vast majority of them were small to medium-sized businesses. “As a privately owned British family business, JCB has been backing Britain since 1945 and is supportive of pro-business political parties that create the conditions for these businesses to grow and prosper. “Both the Conservative party and Reform UK believe in small business and it’s for that reason JCB has donated £200,000 to each in recent weeks.”