Arron Banks

Arron Fraser Andrew Banks (born 1966) is a British businessman and political donor. He was the co-founder (with Richard Tice) of the Leave.EU campaign and one of the largest donors to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), helping Nigel Farage's campaign for Brexit. In November 2018 the National Crime Agency opened an investigation into Banks following concerns raised over the source of his funding. In September 2019, the NCA dropped its investigation into Banks and Leave.EU, finding "no evidence that any criminal offences have been committed." Banks was reported to have had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials as well as being offered business opportunities in Russia in the run-up to the Brexit referendum. He denied any wrongdoing and said: "There was no Russian money and no interference of any type." In May 2020, the Electoral Commission, who had referred Banks to the NCA for investigation of these allegations, conceded Banks did not break electoral law during the 2016 EU referendum campaign. Banks said he had been "completely vindicated" after reaching a settlement with the Electoral Commission. In the 2025 West of England mayoral election, Banks was Reform UK's candidate to become the directly-elected mayor of the West of England Combined Authority, losing narrowly to the winning Labour candidate, Helen Godwin.