Musk ready to offer up to $158m to help Nigel Farage become a political force in Britain

London: Elon Musk has backed the populist Reform UK party and opened talks with leader Nigel Farage about making a major donation to the party to defeat Labour and the Conservatives.

Farage met the tech billionaire at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida club, and “the issue of money was discussed” amid speculation that he could donate as much as £78 million ($158 million).

Nick Candy, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage at Mar-a-Lago after their meeting.Credit: Instagram

Writing for Britain’s Telegraph, Farage said Musk “left us in no doubt that he is right behind us” and launched “ongoing negotiations” about a financial contribution to Reform.

It is the first time that either Farage or Musk has acknowledged rumours that the latter is considering a multimillion-pound donation, which could be the largest in British political history.

The SpaceX and Tesla entrepreneur is a vocal critic of the Labour government and has accused UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of eroding freedom of speech by running a “tyrannical police state”.

Farage shared a photograph of the two with the caption: “Britain needs Reform.” Musk replied: “Absolutely.”

The Reform leader was joined by Nick Candy, a London property magnate and former Conservative donor who defected to Reform last week, becoming the party’s treasurer and promising to bring in “tens of millions of pounds”.

Farage wrote that he hoped to learn from Trump’s election victory and had discussed the Republican “ground game” in Pennsylvania, where Musk controversially gave cash handouts to registered voters.

He said: “I have come home with copious notes of how they increased the turnout, voter registration and so much more, and all of this I intend to implement as part of the professionalisation of our party.

“It is also heartening to listen to Elon speak about UK politics with such deep care. He regards the mother country of the English-speaking world as being in very deep trouble.

Elon Musk and former first lady Melania Trump listen as Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in October.Credit: AP

“Inevitably, following such intense media speculation, the issue of money was discussed and there will be ongoing negotiations on that score.”

The Telegraph understands that Musk has significant concerns about the UK’s Online Safety Act, which requires social media companies including X – which he owns – to regulate their content.

Scrapping or amending the legislation may become a key request of Trump when he enters trade negotiations with Britain next year.

Trump’s team has warned that the UK must choose between a closer trade relationship with either the US or the EU, suggesting that talks could end with tariffs of up to 20 per cent on UK exports if the incoming president is not placated.

Nigel Farage is Trump’s closest British political ally and was at his victory party in Florida.Credit: Bloomberg

Farage said that, during his visit to Mar-a-Lago, several of Trump’s allies had asked him about Starmer’s decision to sign away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which some Republicans think will threaten the Diego Garcia airbase.

“I was able to assure them that the Chagos Islands’ surrender was not only wholly unnecessary but represented a bad deal for the United Kingdom, America, the free world and not least the Chagossian people,” he said. “I promise the Labour government there is trouble ahead on this issue.”

In a sign of Farage’s growing familiarity with the new Trump administration, he also met J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect.

Vance has spoken to Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, since the US election last month, but no party leader other than Farage has met Musk.

In a statement, Farage said: “I had a great meeting with vice-president elect J.D. Vance yesterday. He is a friend of mine and I have known him for 14 years – Kemi Badenoch has known him for 14 days.

“I have always said I will help this government with contacts. It isn’t just President Trump and the incoming vice-president, but I have known large numbers of the cabinet for many years.

“I will always do what is in the national interest, and renewing our strong ties with America after four years of Joe Biden can only be a good thing for our country.”

On her recent trip to Washington, Badenoch said she was “excited about Doge”, an efficiency project Musk will lead next year, describing its work as “absolutely brilliant”. But he has declined to return her warm words, preferring to criticise Starmer and back Farage.

During riots across the UK in August, he posted online that “civil war is inevitable”, drawing criticism from a Downing Street spokesman, who said there was “no justification for comments like that”.

After Labour imposed inheritance tax on British farmers, he claimed the UK was “going full Stalin”. He also supported a petition for a new general election last month, writing online: “The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.”

As a US citizen, Musk cannot legally donate to a UK political party, but he could give Reform money via the British branch of X.

A contribution of £78 million would easily eclipse the biggest single-party donation in British history – a £10 million gift by Lord Sainsbury to the Conservative Party in 2023. It would also deal a major blow to Labour and the Conservatives, who are challenging Reform in dozens of local council elections in May.

Lord Mandelson, the Labour peer in contention to be the UK’s next ambassador to the US, has said the government must use Farage and other Trump allies as a “bridge” to Musk, and that it would be unwise to ignore him.

The Telegraph, London