Musk in talks over Reform UK donation, says Farage

Reform UK is in "open negotiations" with US billionaire Elon Musk about him donating to the party, Nigel Farage has told the BBC.

The Reform UK leader said the pair "did talk about money" during a meeting on Monday at Donald Trump's Florida retreat.

He added that the tech tycoon, who is a prominent supporter and major donor to Trump's re-election campaign, was "fully, fully behind us".

"He wants to help us, he's not opposed to the idea of giving us money, provided we can do it legally through UK companies," he added.

It is the first time Mr Farage has said his party is in talks about a potential donation from Mr Musk, the world's richest person and the boss of X, Tesla and SpaceX.

Earlier this month, Farage said that although Mr Musk was a political supporter, he had not asked for a donation and "one has never been offered".

Mr Musk has not commented on the possibility of a donation to Reform UK, which won four million votes and five seats July's general election.

As a US citizen, he cannot make personal political donations in the UK.

But there have been reports suggesting a donation could be made through the British branch of X.

Speaking to BBC political editor Chris Mason, Farage said they "didn't discuss specific numbers" when it came to a potential donation, adding the party was "in negotiations" over the matter.

But he added that speculation the billionaire could make a donation as large as $100m (£78m) was "for the birds".

Farage has previously said the UK's election watchdog "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".

Mar-a-lago meeting

It comes after Reform UK said Farage, along with new party treasurer Nick Candy, met Mr Musk at Mar-a-Lago for an hour on Monday and had "learned a great deal from Musk about the Trump ground game".

Farage posted a picture of himself on X alongside Mr Musk and Mr Candy, who was announced as party treasurer last week, standing in front of a painting of Trump that hangs inside the Mar-A-Lago complex.

He added "Britain needs Reform", to which Mr Musk replied: "Absolutely".

Reform UK thanked the US president-elect for allowing them to use the building for the meeting, adding it showed the "special relationship" between the UK and US was "alive and well".

Mr Musk has become 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.

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 has suggested the SpaceX and Tesla mogul might even be prepared to become a UK citizen to make a $100m donation to Reform UK.

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

The government has committed to reviewing the rules on political donations in the UK, with Sir Keir's spokesman telling reporters on Tuesday there would be a "relevant update in due course".

Asked about the influence Musk could potentially wield in British politics, Farage told the BBC: "UK trading companies are allowed to give to British politics, and I don't think that's going to chance any time soon".

He added that the possibility of the Labour government changing donation rules "shows you how worried they are" about Reform UK.