LONDON — Britain’s election watchdog has urged the U.K. government to take a tougher stance on donations to political parties, amid speculation X owner Elon Musk could start bankrolling Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The Electoral Commission, which regulates party finances and elections in Britain, called on Keir Starmer’s Labour administration to reduce the likelihood of foreign interference in British politics.
Musk, a U.S. citizen, is considering donating up to $100 million to support Farage’s right-wing party, according to media reports. It would mark the largest-ever donation in British political history, though both camps have so far played down the amounts likely to be involved.
Under current British electoral law, donations to parties worth more than £500 should come from “permissable donors” registered in the U.K., which includes voters on the electoral roll and companies registered in Britain. This could allow Musk to donate through the British arm of X.
But Electoral Commission Chief Executive Vijay Rangarajan told the Guardian that donations should be linked to the size of U.K. company profits. X’s U.K. arm showed a pre-tax profit of £8.5 million in 2022.
“It’s crucial that U.K. voters have trust in the financing of our political system, so they need to see how parties and campaigners are financed and how they spend that money at elections,” Rangarajan said.
“The system needs strengthening, and we have been calling for changes to the law since 2013, to protect the electoral system from foreign interference.”
Rangarajan also said parties should be forced to make enhanced checks on donations to assess their risk, and disclosed the watchdog was “discussing these proposals with the government.”
Farage hit back Thursday, calling the commission “establishment stooges” and claimed both Labour and the Tories were “terrified of Reform and Elon Musk.”
He added: “This old order needs to be swept away.”
Musk and Farage met at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this week.
Farage said afterward that Musk was “right behind” him and that “money was discussed” as part of the conversation between the pair.
