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Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, UK News, Politics, Money
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, UK News, Politics, Money
The British government is looking to stop Elon Musk from donating up to $100,000,000 to one of the UK's most controversial political parties.
Musk - the richest person in the world - already influenced the 2024 US election when he gave cash handouts to registered voters in seven swing states.
Now, he could potentially reshape UK public affairs by making the 'biggest donation in British political history.'
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO met up with Reform Party leader Nigel Farage at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida earlier this week.
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The right-wing party currently only has five members of parliament, but claimed 14.3% of the vote share in this year's UK general election, which was won by Labour.
And in a Telegraph article, Farage claimed the pair had discussed the Republican 'ground game' in Pennsylvania.
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 professionalization of our party."
He added that 'the issue of money was discussed' and 'there will be ongoing negotiations on that score.'
Farage later told the BBC: "[Musk] wants to help us, he's not opposed to the idea of giving us money, provided we can do it legally through UK companies."
While neither Musk nor Farage have disclosed the sum of the hypothetical donation, reports suggest it could be up to $100,000,000.
The only thing is, it would be illegal for Musk to make such a payment.
Under UK electoral law, donations and loans to political parties with a value of £500 or more should come from 'permissible donors' registered in the UK. But it is believed Musk could use the UK 'leg' of his social media platform X as a work-around.
It's since been reported that the UK government is planning to crack down harder on foreign donations in light of this.
In its manifesto, the Labour Party said it's 'committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections'.
And a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson told UNILAD: “We are committed to protecting our democracy from the threat of foreign interference by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties. We will set out more details on this in due course.”
Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive of the elections watchdog, told The Guardian it's 'crucial' that UK voters have trust in 'the financing of our political system'.
He said: “Our current laws include checks on the permissibility of donations and are intended to provide transparency over the source of political donations. But the system needs strengthening, and we have been calling for changes to the law since 2013, to protect the electoral system from foreign interference."
UNILAD has contacted Elon Musk and the Reform Party for comment.