“Inevitably, following such intense media speculation, the issue of money was discussed, and there will be ongoing negotiations on that score,” the Reform UK leader said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the party’s newly appointed treasurer, Nick Candy, met with Elon Musk on Monday over the possibility of the tech billionaire donating to the party, as it bids to increase its influence in British politics.
The meeting took place at Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, reviving speculation that Musk could be set to make a huge donation to the hard-right party.
The party released a statement by the Reform leader and Candy in which they said they had met Musk for an hour.
“We learned a great deal about the Trump ground game and will have ongoing discussions on other areas,” it added. “We only have one more chance left to save the west and we can do great things together. Our thanks also to President Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.”
Musk has come in for heavy criticism in recent weeks and months for allowing his X platform, formerly Twitter, to become a site where misinformation and extremist content is published without consequence.
He has also repeatedly attacked Keir Starmer and the Labour government.
Writing in The Telegraph after the meeting, Farage said Musk had “left us in no doubt that he is right behind us”.
“Inevitably, following such intense media speculation, the issue of money was discussed, and there will be ongoing negotiations on that score,” the Reform UK leader added.
The latest reports once more highlight the need to tighten the rules around money in UK politics, with Labour reported to be considering a cap on political donations.
In its manifesto, Labour committed to “protect democracy by strengthening the rules around donations to political parties”. At the core of this pledge is an aim to tighten protections around foreign interference in UK democracy.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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