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There has been recent speculation surrounding Reform UK leader Nigel Farage receiving a large donation of $100 million (£78 million) from billionaire Elon Musk, however Farage has dismissed the rumours, saying that he has heard “nothing of the kind”. The claims were initially made by the Sunday Times, which suggested that Conservative Party officials were worried the donation could be used to defeat their party in the next election.
Although Mr Musk is a prominent critic of Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and has previously supported Reform UK on his social media platform X, as a US citizen, he cannot make personal political donations in the UK. Nevertheless, a donation could potentially be made through the British branch of X.
During an interview with the BBC’s PM programme, Farage stated that “even a fraction of that money would make a massive difference to our operation as a party, [but] it’s purely theoretical”. Farage admitted that while he knows Mr Musk and that they share political views, he has never solicited a donation and that nothing of the kind has ever been offered.
Moreover, Farage raised doubts about the possibility of a $100 million donation being funnelled through the UK arm of Mr Musk’s social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. He stated that “the idea that X Corp could give $100m to any political party is for the birds”, and that the Electoral Commission would view such a donation as being proportional to the size of the company in the country.
Despite this, Farage admitted that he would accept a donation, but highlighted that money isn’t everything when it comes to winning an election. He referred to James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party, which spent £25m on the 1997 election but only received 3% of the vote.
Mr Musk’s father Errol Musk also commented on the speculation surrounding the $100 million donation, suggesting that his son may become a UK citizen to make the donation. However, there has been no indication from Mr Musk himself that he has plans to do so
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