UK's Nigel Farage touts chance of political funding from Elon Musk after Mar-a-Lago meeting

Joe Mayes, Bloomberg News on Dec 17, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LONDON — Nigel Farage, leader of the populist Reform UK party, said he is in “ongoing negotiations” with Elon Musk about a political donation, the latest sign of a potential collaboration between the pair that could threaten the traditional two-party duopoly of British politics.

Farage, who met with Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday alongside Reform’s new treasurer, the property magnate Nick Candy, said Musk “left us in no doubt that he is right behind us” and that the “issue of money was discussed,” according to an op-ed Farage wrote in the Telegraph newspaper.

The prospect of Musk making a significant financial contribution to Reform is a risk for Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party and the main opposition Tories, with Reform already challenging both parties in the polls and Farage now the bookmakers’ favorite to succeed Starmer as prime minister. Musk has increasingly been signaling his support for Reform, whose policies include drastically reducing immigration, slashing taxes and dropping net zero climate policies.

And though Farage’s party only won a handful of seats at the general election in July — hampered by Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system which disadvantages minor parties — Farage has promised a “political revolution” at the next national vote in 2029 and is hoping to make major gains at local elections in May. His party has built a sense of momentum this year after it secured 14.3% of the national vote share and has then been buoyed by the stuttering start of Starmer’s administration.

Farage has also been lifted by a series of defections, including that of Candy last week. A former donor to the Conservatives, Candy said he would raise tens of millions of pounds for Reform and will donate a seven-figure sum himself.

The Telegraph reported Musk is considering giving up to $100 million to Reform, without saying how it obtained the information. Such a donation would be the largest ever to a UK political party.

After their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Farage said on Musk’s X platform: ‘Britain Needs Reform.’ Musk replied to the post with: ‘Absolutely.’