Telsa CEO Elon Musk would be trying to “buy” British politics if he made a multi-million pound donation to Reform, Kemi Badenoch has said.
The Conservative leader branded Musk’s support as “counterproductive” amid rumors he could donate up to £78million to the populist party.
Badenoch also said it was unlikely the billionaire would actually make a donation, appearing to accuse Farage of warping the truth.
Reform hUK as said that “the issue of money was discussed” when Farage met Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida last week.
Kemi Badenoch said it was unlikely Musk would donate to Reform
PA
Speaking to the BBC, Badenoch said: “I believe in competition, so I think that if Elon Musk is giving a party, a competitor party, money, then that is a challenge for me to make sure that I raise the same.”
Commenting on the current rules around political party donations, the Leader of the Opposition also said it was imperative to make sure there were no foreign states, undue influence and bad actors influencing UK politics.
She added that UK politics and US politics were poles apart, saying: “I do not believe that [Musk] is going to give that money but it doesn’t matter if he does, because it is a challenge for us to make sure we can raise the same. But one of the things I think people forget is that politics in the US is very different from politics in the UK.”
“People in this country don’t necessarily like to see politics being bought. In the US, I think they spend billions on their campaigns. My election limit was about £15,000. So I think it would potentially be counterproductive.”
The Tory Party has seen several high-profile defections to Reform UK in the past few weeks, including ex-MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns and conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie.
There have been worries of more people making the move if Farage’s party were to become better funded.
When asked why Musk was backing Reform UK instead of the Conservatives, Badenoch said: “I don’t think he’s actually giving them anything. In fact, I think he said he wasn’t.”
This past weekend, the government opened the door to laws that would block a donation like this
STUART MITCHELL
“All we’ve seen is Nigel Farage saying ‘he’s going to give me money’, and Mr Farage says a whole load of things. I don’t say things unless they are true.”
This past weekend, the Government opened the door to laws that would block a donation like this as part of wider reforms to the UK political system.
Hitting out at Reform’s policies, the Tory leader claimed Reform was saying things without thinking them through.
She said: “You can give easy answers if you haven’t thought it all through. I do the thinking and what people are going to get with new leadership under me is thoughtful conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis.”
Badenoch has made a point of not rushing into policy commitments, instead placing emphasis on the importance of “first principles” from which the Conservative Party must proceed.