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Prominent figures such as Elon Musk have long sought to influence politics overseas. In the past, foreign influence has prevailed during election cycles through monetary donations. Musk has sought to impact both the political climate and policies through a series of comments and alliances, all with the same aim: to derail the current government and to improve the chances of the Reform party in elections.
Elon Musk has formed tight relations with Nigel Farage and the Reform party. This has potentially included a large donation through the British branch of X, rumoured to be up to $100 million. As Farage hopes for even greater electoral success at the next general election, aiming to become the largest UK party, this donation would be significant due to the strong connection between available campaign funds and success at general elections. For example, CEPR estimated that this relationship is economically significant, showing that its prevalence has been increasing since the 1980s. The evidence shows that with a 1% increase in the share of spending within a constituency by a candidate, there will be a 1.1% increase in their vote count.
Musk has been an outspoken critic of the current Labour government since the 2024 general election, having previously been in a close relationship with Rishi Sunak.
Most recently, Musk has become more vocal about the state of British politics, notably on the investigations into grooming gangs. He has amplified the message put forward by Reform UK and the Conservative Party to his 212 million followers on X, calling for a national inquiry into childhood sexual abuse. The Labour government has rejected calls for an inquiry, instead preferring to implement the 20 recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse and supporting councils in leading further investigations in towns, including Oldham.
It remains to be seen what Musk and the wider Trump-Musk-Reform alliance will mean for British politics in the medium to long term. In the short term, the comments about safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and Starmer’s handling of the scandal have led to a hurrying of policies. In this sense, Musk has been successful in influencing politics. The language used in these attacks has come under scrutiny, especially the comment made about Phillips being a “rape genocide apologist”. This culminated in backlash from the UK’s main political parties: Labour, Conservative and Reform. The parties united in calling for Trump to reconsider his alliance with Musk, as it is damaging the President-elect’s reputation, putting the UK-US relationship at risk. There may already be strain on the Musk-Farage relationship due to Musk stating that Farage was not suited to the role of leader of the Reform party. This is partially due to Farage taking a different stance to Musk on far-right activist Tommy Robinson. However, it is yet to be seen whether this strain is permanent; it is difficult to predict how this alliance will work and what its long term impact will be. The relationship between Musk and British politics is bringing into focus the issue of free speech, especially in Musk’s media sphere, and whether countries will attempt to regulate this in any way. Vice President-elect JD Vance has already stated that attempts to restrict freedom of speech will affect bilateral relations between America and other countries.
Image: Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is an ally of US president-elect Donald Trump, Alex Brandon, 2024 // CC BY 4.0
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