Massive Elon Musk donation news to me, says Farage

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says talk of a $100m (£78m) donation to his party by US billionaire Elon Musk is "pure speculation".

Farage told the BBC the idea was "complete news to me" and "I’ve heard nothing of the kind".

The rumours were sparked by the Sunday Times, which reported Conservative Party officials were concerned about Reform using the money to wipe their party out at the next election.

Mr Musk's father Errol in an interview with GB News, suggested his son, whose grandmother was British, could take UK citizenship to get round foreign donation rules.

Mr Musk is a prominent critic of Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and has backed Reform UK to form the next government in posts on his social media platform X.

As a US citizen Mr Musk cannot make personal political donations in the UK.

But a donation could be made through the British branch of X, the Sunday Times suggested.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Farage said "even a fraction of that money would make a massive difference to our operation as a party, [but] it’s purely theoretical".

He added that although he does know Mr Musk and "politically he is a supporter of mine, there’s no secret to that, I’ve never solicited a donation from him and one has never been offered".

He also raised doubts that a donation of that size would be possible if funnelled via the UK arm of Mr Musk’s X social media site, formerly known as Twitter.

"As far as the company is concerned the Electoral Commission would take a view that a donation that came from a company would have to be proportional to the size of the company in this country," he said.

"The idea that X Corp could give $100m to any political party is for the birds."

Pressed on whether he would accept a donation, Farage said “of course I would accept money” but pointed out that James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party spent £25m on the 1997 election and "got 3%" of the vote.

He added: "Money isn’t everything."

Mr Musk, who was born in South Africa, donated $75m to US President-elect Donald Trump's re-election bid, with $72m of that going to a political action committee he set up called America PAC.

Mr Musk's father Errol suggested the SpaceX and Tesla mogul might even be prepared to become a UK citizen to make a $100m donation to Reform UK.

He told GB News: "I'm eligible for British citizenship, so is he, I suppose."

He added: "If the thing that's stopping Farage from moving ahead is money, then he should get money so that he can move ahead."

Asked what his family had against Sir Keir, Errol Musk said: "What's happened in England is just totally un-English."