Nigel Farage claims Elon Musk will help reform UK

Elon Musk will help Reform UK win over younger voters and beat the Conservatives at the next general election, Nigel Farage has claimed. The Tesla tycoon is “an absolute hero figure” for the younger generation and would be a “huge help” in connecting them with the party, the Reform UK leader added. With rumours swirling of a potentially massive donation to Reform from the world’s richest man, Farage said any handout from Musk would be “legal and above board”, but added the billionaire was indeed considering giving a “reasonable-sized” chunk. There has been speculation a donation could be as much as $100m, which would be by far the biggest donation in British political history and still significantly less than what Musk spent on the re-election of Donald Trump.

Farage has said he and Musk discussed the donation during a trip to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida alongside Reform’s new treasurer, former Tory donor Nick Candy. And, commenting on Musk’s popularity with younger voters in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Farage said: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool – Elon is a huge help to us with the young generation, and that will be the case going on, and frankly that’s only just starting. “Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything.

“And I think we’re beginning to get into that zone – we were anyway, but Elon makes the whole task much, much easier. And the idea that politics can be cool, politics can be fun, politics can be real — Elon helps us with that mission enormously.” Farage also said he hoped that Musk would give Reform the plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) he has been tasked by Trump with running. The body is being set up to slash trillions of dollars of US government spending, and Farage said: “I’m hoping he gives us the blueprint, and the blueprint is how to cut the administrative state. “The message from us to young people is we want the state to leave us alone. The message to young people is your youth was messed up by government lockdowns — we want the state to leave us alone to live our own lives, make our own choices and do our own things, and again Elon helps with that enormously.” The comments come amid a blazing row between Farage and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who he has hinted he could sue over her claim Reform UK faked its leadership numbers.

Nigel Farage

A digital counter on Reform’s website showed a membership tally on Boxing Day ticking past the 131,680 figure declared by the Conservative Party during its leadership election earlier this year. But Ms Badenoch said the Reform figures were “fake”, accusing Farage of lying to his supporters at Christmas. Farage, in a statement issued on Musk’s social media site X, said the accusations of “fraud and dishonesty” made against him were “disgraceful”.

He said Reform had opened up its systems to media outlets, including the Telegraph and the Financial Times, in the “interests of full transparency to verify that our data is correct”. He added: “I am now demanding Kemi Badenoch apologises.”

Farage, on whether he was threatening legal action or not, said: “I haven’t threatened anything. I’ve just said that unless I get an apology, I will take some action. I haven’t said whether it’s legal or anything.” He added:

Ms Badenoch, in a series of messages posted on X on Boxing Day, said: “Farage doesn’t understand the digital age. This kind of fakery gets found out pretty quickly, although not before many are fooled.” There were 131,680 Conservative members eligible to vote during the party’s leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak in the autumn.