The emblematic Brexit MP at the head of the far-right Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, claimed on Wednesday December 18 to be in negotiations with Elon Musk about financing his political party. The British politician met the American billionaire on Monday at Donald Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, and “the question of money was discussed”, he relates in an editorial published in the Daily Telegraph. “There will be negotiations on this,” he added.
According to Nigel Farage, Elon Musk, appointed by Donald Trump (but not yet confirmed by the US Senate) to head a US State Department, “described the Labor Party and the Conservative Party as a single party, and did not left us in no doubt that he was behind us.” Elon Musk “wants to help us, he is not opposed to the idea of giving us money as long as we can do it legally through British companies,” he added.
At 60, Nigel Farage was elected to the House of Commons in July’s parliamentary elections, which saw his anti-immigration party, Reform UK, garner more than 14% of the vote and make a remarkable entry into Parliament with five seats. . He took votes from both Labor and the Tories, and is aiming for a victory in the next election in 2029, even if the British electoral system is likely to favor the two main parties.
Largest political donor in American history
If Nigel Farage has told the BBC on Tuesday that the two men had not spoken about an amount, the British press has echoed in recent days a possible donation from Elon Musk, boss of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social network the sum of 100 million dollars (95 million euros). Nigel Farage has in the past criticized US interference in British politics: in 2016, he said that the then US president, Barack Obama, had “behaved shamefully” by suggesting that the United Kingdom would be “last in line” for a trade deal with the United States if he voted for Brexit.
Now close to Donald Trump, Elon Musk has become the largest political donor in recent American history with more than $270 million paid during the presidential campaign to support the Republican. Donald Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20, has appointed the billionaire to head a commission for “governmental efficiency”, a body created to cut federal budgets. The presence of the latter at this level of power risks complicating relations between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Donald Trump, Elon Musk being a fierce critic of the Labor government.