Revealed: a crypto billionaire’s political base hosting ‘anti-woke’ and rightwing activists in Westminster

## Summary
Clockwise from top left: Rupert Lowe, Ben Delo, Westminster Abbey cloisters, the Sanctuary, Ben Habib, Kemi Badenoch, Maurice Glasman, James Orr, Munira Mirza. Illustration: Guardian Design/Guardian Design / Getty View image in fullscreen Clockwise from top left: Rupert Lowe, Ben Delo, Westminster Abbey cloisters, the Sanctuary, Ben Habib, Kemi Badenoch, Maurice Glasman, James Orr, Munira Mirza. They added: “He said that, in his view, like his own son, who was born to two first-generation Brits in Britain, he was British and not ethnically English.” View image in fullscreen The Sanctuary in Westminster Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian Delo says he doesn’t necessarily endorse the views of those he supports. View image in fullscreen Ben Delo, Jeremy Hildreth and Konstantin Kisin at Delo’s summer party in Westminster Abbey in June 2025.

## Article Content
Clockwise from top left: Rupert Lowe, Ben Delo, Westminster Abbey cloisters, the Sanctuary, Ben Habib, Kemi Badenoch, Maurice Glasman, James Orr, Munira Mirza.
Illustration: Guardian Design/Guardian Design / Getty
View image in fullscreen
Clockwise from top left: Rupert Lowe, Ben Delo, Westminster Abbey cloisters, the Sanctuary, Ben Habib, Kemi Badenoch, Maurice Glasman, James Orr, Munira Mirza.
Illustration: Guardian Design/Guardian Design / Getty
Revealed: a crypto billionaire’s political base hosting ‘anti-woke’ and rightwing activists in Westminster
Pardoned by Trump after violating US banking law, Ben Delo provides funding, networking, and podcasting space for a range of groups, including those with hardline views on migration and abortion
A British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate money-laundering controls on his cryptocurrency business is funding a political base in the heart of Westminster used by “anti-woke” and rightwing activists.
Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP
challenging Nigel Farage from the right
– while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Delo, an Oxford graduate who moved to Hong Kong in 2012 and appears to still be based there, says he is a champion of “free speech” and has vowed to tackle the “nuisance” of political correctness. He supports more than 50 organisations ranging across the political spectrum and public life, as well as non-affiliated groups and individuals.
Now a joint investigation by the Guardian and Hope Not Hate reveals some of the people and projects that have benefited from Delo’s largesse.
Among them are those who have expressed hardline positions on immigration, nationalism and abortion.
Delo, who says he has poured more than £100m into philanthropy, is providing funding, networking opportunities and help in kind via a suite of rooms in a building overlooking Westminster Abbey, known as the Sanctuary. Those given access can use the facility free of charge for events, office space and podcasting.
Restore Britain, the party founded by Lowe, a former Reform UK MP who now sits as an independent, launched its campaign for the mass deportation of millions of migrants from a room at the Sanctuary last year.
View image in fullscreen
Rupert Lowe filming from the Sanctuary.
Photograph: Facebook
The Triggernometry podcast, which describes itself as a free speech and open inquiry platform, has used the facilities to broadcast to its 1.7 million subscribers.
Its co-host Konstantin Kisin
has questioned whether
the British-born former prime minister Rishi Sunak could be considered English because of his ethnicity, saying during a show recorded at the Sanctuary: “He’s a brown Hindu, how is he English?”
A spokesperson for Triggernometry said Kisin had “repeatedly explained that he is not rightwing and not only that, he never said Rishi Sunak was not English”. They added: “He said that, in his view, like his own son, who was born to two first-generation Brits in Britain, he was British and not ethnically English.”
View image in fullscreen
The Sanctuary in Westminster
Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
Delo says he doesn’t necessarily endorse the views of those he supports. But he facilitates events where those with hardline views mix with more mainstream politicians. Guests at his summer party last year included the former cabinet minister Michael Gove, Reform UK’s head of policy – the Cambridge academic and anti-abortionist James Orr – and Ben Habib, the founder of Advance UK, the political party supported by Tommy Robinson.
Delo has also connected with Badenoch. The leader of the Conservative party sat at a table with him at the Spectator magazine awards dinner in 2023.
Later, Badenoch sent Delo a handwritten note on a card featuring parliament’s portcullis logo, saying: “Was great to party with you last month. We should do so more often”.
View image in fullscreen
Badenoch (left) speaking on the Triggernometry podcast.
Photograph: Triggernometry/Youtube
One of Delo’s associates, Jeremy Hildreth, a branding consultant who has been described as his chief of staff, donated £26,755 in legal costs to Badenoch in 2021 related to advice on online harassment, abuse and intimidation.
The billionaire’s lawyers told the Guardian he provided space for those with diverse views to express them, and financial support to a broad range of organisations, many of which had conflicting views. This did not mean he endorsed the opinions of each, they said.
View image in fullscreen
Ben Delo, Jeremy Hildreth and Konstantin Kisin at Delo’s summer party in Westminster Abbey in June 2025.
Photograph: @TheCathedralHQ/X
They said Hildreth had provided “family office services” to Delo for some time. His company, Jeremy Hildreth And Comrades Ltd, operates from the Sanctuary.
Delo was convicted in

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- There are many, however, with a strong focus on immigration, anti-wokeness and populism.
- Lowe, who announced in February that Restore Britain had been registered as a political party, was provided with free office space to hold a press conference announcing “the most comprehensive deportation policy ever produced in Britain” in the tapestry room last November.

### Areas for Consideration
- But it hardly seemed like an existential threat to western civilisation.

### Implications
- Restore Britain, the party founded by Lowe, a former Reform UK MP who now sits as an independent, launched its campaign for the mass deportation of millions of migrants from a room at the Sanctuary last year.
- Its co-host Konstantin Kisin has questioned whether the British-born former prime minister Rishi Sunak could be considered English because of his ethnicity, saying during a show recorded at the Sanctuary: “He’s a brown Hindu, how is he English?” A spokesperson for Triggernometry said Kisin had “repeatedly explained that he is not rightwing and not only that, he never said Rishi Sunak was not English”.
- Guests at his summer party last year included the former cabinet minister Michael Gove, Reform UK’s head of policy – the Cambridge academic and anti-abortionist James Orr – and Ben Habib, the founder of Advance UK, the political party supported by Tommy Robinson.
- We should do so more often”.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers delo, guardian, sanctuary topics. Notable strengths include discussion of delo. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2383.