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Elon Musk, the pro-Trump billionaire owner of X, is reportedly considering donating up to $100 million to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to help them fight and win the next election.
The two men posed for a picture together this week at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, alongside the party’s new multimillionaire Treasurer Nick Candy.
The subject of a donation was reportedly discussed by the three men, with Musk later posting an approving Tweet in response to Farage’s suggestion that “Britain needs Reform”.
Reports of a potential financial alliance between Musk and Reform has led to calls for a loophole allowing foreign billionaires to bankroll British political parties to be closed.
Keir Starmer Considers Closing Elon Musk Donations Loophole to Stop ‘Foreign Interference’ in UK Elections
A rumoured $100 million donation from Musk to Nigel Farage’s Reform would be banned under the proposal
Under the current rules foreign donations to UK political parties are banned, but money originating from outside Britain can be funnelled through a firm with a permanent base in the UK – like Musk’s company Tesla.
Asked last week by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard whether the Government has plans to change the law on political donations, DHLG minister Lord Khan replied that the Government is “considering changes that will help protect our system from foreign interference” adding that these could include “such as “tighter controls on donations.”
He told peers: “The Government [has] committed to reforming political finance rules…The Electoral Commission has pointed to a need to consider the rules on company donations. Details of these proposals will be brought forward in due course.”
However, even without any such donation, Reform is already drawing significant funds from Elon Musk, through his website as part of its “creators” program.
Reform UK MPs Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe have both declared payouts from the company in their recent parliamentary register of interests.
Keir Starmer’s Plan to Clean Up Political Lobbying Is Even Weaker Than the Conservatives’, Say Corruption Experts
Transparency campaigners slam what they describe as the Prime Minister’s ‘lacklustre’ approach to cleaning up politics
On December 3 Rupert Lowe Reform’s MP for Great Yarmouth, registered a payment of £3,259.18 from X Corp for 28 hours work on the platform. Lowe’s office told Byline Times that this was “advertising revenue from the dates between 01/02/2023 to 22/11/2024”.
Nigel Farage, Reform UK’s leader, has 2.1 million followers on the platform. The X Creator program was introduced under Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform, it entitles holders of a blue tick to a share of advertising revenue.
Since July Farage has registered several payments from the platform totalling £5,341.73.
Farage’s office told Byline Times, “This is not a story. X launched Creator Revenue in July 2023 and Mr Farage has been signed up since. Nigel has been declaring these relatively small payments since he is now an elected MP. Even Byline Times (or any other member of the public could also do this). They are certainly not political donations”.
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Farage also lists advertising revenue from Meta and Google in his register of interests. He and Lowe are the only MPs to declare any payments from Meta, Google or Twitter.
Lee Anderson and Richard Tice also have blue ticks, but have not declared any donations from the platform. They did not respond to a request for comment.