Elon Musk is reportedly considering dropping a cool $100 million into Reform UK’s coffers, and it seems like it’s all part of his ongoing feud with Keir Starmer. According to The Sunday Times, the tech mogul might funnel the money to the upstart political party through X (formerly known as Twitter) to dodge pesky rules that prevent foreigners from donating to British political parties. Classic Musk move, right?
This massive donation, which works out to about £78 million, could give Nigel Farage’s party a financial leg-up, potentially leaving both Labour and the Tories scrambling to catch up. The paper says that top business figures and Conservative Party insiders believe this could be Musk’s way of delivering a cheeky ‘bird-flip’ to Starmer, as part of his ongoing drama with the Prime Minister, who was elected to 10 Downing Street in a landslide this past July.
The Musk-Starmer saga started brewing last summer, after Musk stirred the pot during the riots in the UK (instigated by the murder of three little girls by an Isis-supporting immigrant), tweeting that “civil war is inevitable.” Naturally, that didn’t sit well with the British government. The PM’s spokesman hit back, calling Musk’s comments “unjustifiable,” while denouncing the “organised illegal thuggery” in the streets. Shade was thrown, it’s fair to say.
But it doesn’t stop there. Musk has been vocal about his distaste for the UK’s political moves, like when he lashed out at Labour’s Rachel Reeves over the introduction of inheritance tax on agricultural land. He also accused Labour of turning the UK into a “tyrannical police state,” a rather dramatic-if-not-untrue take on the situation. Meanwhile, Starmer’s approval ratings have taken a nosedive since Labour’s big election win—Musk couldn’t resist a little jab at that, too.
Not one to shy away from controversy, Musk recently signaled his support for Reform UK. When news broke that former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns had joined the party, Musk chimed in on X with a simple, yet powerful “Yes” when a user claimed Reform would win the next election. That’s one way to endorse a political movement—short, sweet, and with a lot of drama.
Nigel Farage, ever the showman, confirmed to The Sunday Times that he’s in touch with Musk and that the billionaire is “very supportive” of his policy positions. Farage also hinted that Musk and Trump have some sort of bromance going, saying that Trump has said “good things” about him in front of Musk. So, it seems that if you’ve got Musk and Trump in your corner, you’re probably feeling pretty invincible.
All in all, Musk’s potential donation to Reform UK seems to be less about party politics and more about a high-stakes game of political chess. Starmer, you’ve got a billionaire-sized headache coming your way.
