It is unclear what prompted Musk to write on X that Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to be Reform UK’s leader
Elon Musk has called for Nigel Farage to be replaced as Reform UK leader hours after Farage described the billionaire businessman as “a hero”, in what is likely to be a preview of how a chaotic Donald Trump presidency could affect British politics.
Farage, who is also the de facto owner of Reform, “doesn’t have what it takes”, Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns, less than three weeks after the pair held seemingly warm talks at Trump’s Florida home. “The Reform party needs a new leader,” he wrote.
Musk, 53, who has sent a mass of largely misleading posts in recent days about a series of aspects of UK politics, appeared to endorse Rupert Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP, as a possible replacement, saying statements he had read from Lowe “make a lot of sense”.
Later, Lowe backed Farage, posting on X: “Nigel is leader of Reform. He made Brexit happen, and for that I will always be grateful.
“I look forward to working with Nigel and the entire team to continue to hold this incompetent Labour party to account, democratise our own party, win the next election and form a Reform government.”
The sudden change of heart from Musk is highly embarrassing for Farage, who had just spent much of a TV interview earlier on Sunday refusing to condemn the businessman for inflammatory comments about Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips, including calling the latter a “rape genocide apologist”.
Farage, 60, indicated Musk’s statement could be connected to a disagreement about Tommy Robinson, the jailed far-right anti-Islam agitator whom Musk has characterised as a political prisoner, but whom Farage condemns.
“Well, this is a surprise!” Farage wrote on X after Musk’s tweet. “Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”
While the apparent split does relieve Farage of having to defend Musk’s increasingly prolific, freewheeling and far-right views, there had been significant speculation that the world’s richest man could donate as much as $100m (£80m) to Reform, which now appears less likely.
More widely, the incident is a reminder to Farage and other UK politicians that trying to win favour with either Trump or his ever-changing coterie of advisers and hangers-on, particularly Musk – a capricious figure who seems to understand little about British politics – is a risky affair.
Musk’s embrace of Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has coincided with his interest in cases of grooming gangs in some UK towns and cities, and the decision by Phillips to tell Oldham council, one of the areas affected, that she did not think a second national inquiry into lessons from the scandal was needed.
As well as his comment about Phillips, the safeguarding minister, Musk said Starmer was “complicit in the rape of Britain”. In another flurry of tweets on Sunday, Musk again praised Robinson, and promoted discredited conspiracy theories that Starmer failed to act against the prolific sex offender Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.
Musk has also endorsed far-right figures in other countries recently, expressing support for Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland in next month’s federal elections.
Asked about this in an interview with the German weekly Stern, Olaf Scholz, the country’s chancellor, said: “Don’t feed the troll,” adding: “You have to stay cool.”
Speaking before Musk disowned him, Farage declined to condemn the comments about Starmer and Phillips. “I don’t agree with everything he stands for,” Farage told BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. “But I do believe in free speech. I think he’s a hero.”
He added: “Free speech is back. Well, you may find it offensive, but it’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
Farage described Musk’s language as “very, very tough terms”, but indicated it would only be seen as unacceptable if it was deemed to be inciting violence. “You know, in public life, tough things get said,” he said. “Those on the left have thrown these sort of jabs at the right for many, many decades and will go on doing so.”
Farage also said he believed Musk had justification in calling Starmer complicit in the failures to swiftly prosecute gangs who targeted vulnerable young girls in a series of UK towns and cities.
“What he’s referring to, specifically, is that in 2008 Keir Starmer had just been appointed as director of public prosecutions, and there was a case brought before them of alleged mass rape of young girls that did not lead to a prosecution,” Farage said.
“I don’t know the rights and wrongs of that any more than you do, but if you believe in free speech, people are allowed to have an opinion.”
Speaking later to the BBC, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, condemned Musk’s comments about Phillips.
“It is a disgraceful smear of a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the kind of violence that Elon Musk and others say that they’re against,” he said.
Streeting condemned what he called “armchair critics on social media”, contrasting them with people such as Starmer and Phillips, who “have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife-beaters, rapists, paedophiles”.
