Sir Keir Starmer could introduce a new law to block Elon Musk from donating to Reform UK, a minister has suggested, saying the government will make sure the electoral system is protected from “many of the new issues that face undermining our democracy”.
The minister refusing to rule out the introduction of a law comes amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate $100m to Nigel Farage’s party – by far the largest contribution in British electoral history.
As a US citizen, Mr Musk cannot legally make a personal donation to a UK political party but he could do so through the UK subsidiaries of his companies.
Asked about a possible move to block the donation, Commons leader Lucy Powell suggested the government would not rush to introduce new legislation – but said it is committed to reforming the electoral system to protect it from interference.
“We have no immediate plans to do but we do have a manifesto commitment to look more broadly at our elections regime in the country, from things like votes at 16, which we are committed to, but also to make sure that our electoral system has got that integrity and is robust from many of the new issues that face undermining our democracy and our elections”, she told Sky News.
“But just to be clear, foreign donations to UK-based political parties is prohibited under current law, so that’s something that already exists.”
Pressed on whether a new law could be introduced during this session of parliament, Ms Powell said: “Well, we are committed to bringing forward some changes to the way in which elections are run in this country, there will be an elections bill – probably in the next parliamentary session – but obviously, we’ve not made those decisions yet.
“Because we are committed to things like voter 16, which is in our manifesto.
“And our manifesto also said that we would look at other issues to make sure that our elections in this country are fair or robust, many of the issues that are undermining our democracy at the moment – like mis- and disinformation, foreign state actions and so on, and making sure that the issues around donations are also fair and robust as well.”
Asked earlier this month about the reports by ITV of the massive donation, Mr Musk denied he was planning to donate $100m, but his response did not rule out another amount.
Last week, Mr Farage met with Mr Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion, alongside Reform’s new party treasurer Nick Candy. In a statement, Mr Farage and Mr Candy described their hour-long meeting as “great”.
They did not mention money but said they had “learnt a great deal about the Trump ground game” and would have “ongoing discussions” with the Tesla boss on other areas.
They added: “We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together. Our thanks also to President Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.”
