The get-together last week of Elon Musk, Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s treasurer, Nick Candy, was not just a gathering of Donald Trump fans. It was a meeting of minds.
Immigration, culture wars and shrinking the public sector all feature highly on their political agendas, developed under the umbrella of Trump’s Maga vision.
“We only have one more chance left to save the west and we can do great things together,” said Farage afterwards.
It also revived speculation that Musk could donate as much as $100m (£80m) to Reform, even if there are signs that such a move may actually be opposed by voters.
A ban on wealthy foreign nationals being able to give large sums of money to British political parties was backed by 55%, according to a survey by Survation for the campaign group 38 Degrees.
Asked specifically about Musk, two-thirds (66%) said he should not become influential in British politics. Even among Reform voters, 51% did not want to see Musk become influential.
Money aside though, the ideological common ground between Musk and Reform is clear in some areas.
Immigration
Musk is a vocal critic of US immigration policy, making him a natural ideological bedfellow with Reform. Referring to the US-Mexico border this year, he said “unvetted immigration at large scale is a recipe for disaster” and called for a “secure southern border”. However, he also called for “greatly expediting legal immigration”, reflecting US tech industry concerns about labour needs.
Immigration is a core concern for Farage and Reform. Its top pledge in its manifesto-style “contract” with voters during the UK general election this year was to freeze all “non-essential” immigration.
The second pledge was to detain and deport “illegal immigrants”, including sending arrivals on small boats “back to France”.
Shrinking the government
Musk – whose grinding of an anti-government axe dates back to his own feelings that regulations have hampered his car-making and space rocket businesses – has been given licence by Donald Trump to cut $500bn from the US federal budget.
He and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy are heading a new Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge – named with a winking nod to Musk’s cryptocurrency of choice, dogecoin.
Farage has been quick to endorse this. Trump’s plans to radically slash the US public sector and appoint Musk to “sack vast numbers of people” were a blueprint for what needed to happen in the UK, the Reform leader said last month.
Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said part of Reform’s appeal to Musk was its “disruptor” status, echoing the character of a serial entrepreneur who does not shy away from confrontation.
“The main appeal of Reform for Musk is that they are disruptors and he likes disruptors,” he said. “He just likes the fact they are shaking things up.”
Rights and the ‘war on woke’
Musk has told of making a vow to “destroy” what he describes as “the woke mind virus” after his estrangement from his trans daughter, Vivian Wilson.
The topic is one the billionaire has repeatedly returned to during tweets, waging other culture wars on diversity regulations.
Farage placed issues and arguments around gender on the very first page of his party’s general election manifesto earlier this year, referring to a “divisive ‘woke’ ideology” that he claimed had captured public institutions.
Reform promised to ban what it called “transgender ideology” in schools within the first 100 days of government. It also pledged to replace the Equality Act and said it would scrap diversity, equality and inclusion rules.
“Clearly, Musk has got a bee in his bonnet about the trans issue in particular and the so-called woke mind virus in general, and that dovetails well with the Reform UK position on the culture wars,” said Bale.
Net zero
As the chief executive of the world’s leading electric car brand, Musk has strong environmental credentials. But Musk has made more ambivalent noises about green issues recently. In a discussion with Trump on X in August, Musk said it was “wrong” to vilify the fossil fuel sector.
In terms of existential threat, Musk has also shown more interest in low birthrates and artificial intelligence as problems requiring the world’s attention. This was a change from his view in 2018 when he said climate change was “the biggest threat that humanity faces this century”.
Reform advocates rolling back environmentally friendly policies. It has vowed to scrap the UK’s 2050 net zero target – where the UK removes as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits – because it is “crippling our economy”.
The party also pledges to fast-track North Sea oil and gas licences, as well as doing more to enable fracking.
Russia
Musk has moved from being an initial supporter of Ukraine to a more ambiguous position, which has included trolling the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In 2022, the billionaire sparked outrage when he floated a “peace plan” in which he argued that Ukraine should adopt a neutral status and drop a bid to join Nato.
While Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service was used to help Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, there was also controversy last year when it emerged that Musk had refused a Ukrainian request to activate the system to assist in a surprise offensive.
Farage has faced criticism over his claims that Ukraine could not defeat Russia and his questioning of a US decision to authorise Kyiv to use long-range missiles.
Past comments by the Reform leader, such as that the EU and Nato had “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding eastwards, have also put him at odds with other mainstream political parties in Britain.
