The image of Elon Musk alongside Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s new treasurer, Nick Candy, at Mar-a-Lago on Monday perfectly captured the political convulsions of the year, on both sides of the Atlantic. And what better location than Donald Trump’s Florida resort, the busy HQ of his presidential transition team, which has become a sort of Dark Camelot?
In this country, 2024 was meant to belong to Sir Keir Starmer, who did indeed triumph in July with a thumping 174-seat majority. Yet the prime minister’s first five months in office have been an uninspiring melange of technocracy, small-scale sleaze and teething troubles in Number Ten. Worse, Labour’s great moment has been photo-bombed by Farage and his four fellow MPs.
