Brexit leader Nigel Farage has accused Britain’s Electoral Commission of acting as “establishment stooges” as it called for changes to UK election laws to limit the ability of figures such as Elon Musk to back his upstart Reform UK party.
Amid indications that X owner may seek to back up his public support for Farage’s Reform party with financial backing, there are growing calls to change rules surrounding political donations to prevent the populist party from growing its war chest ahead of the the next election.
While foreigners are typically prohibited from making political donations in Britain, firms incorporated in the UK are allowed to contribute to political parties, meaning that Musk could theoretically back Reform through the British arm of his social media giant.
In an apparent bid to limit the world’s richest man to help Farage, the supposedly independent Electoral Commission has called for changes to donation rules, including limiting the donations a company makes to its British profits.
The India-born Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, Vijay Rangarajan told The Guardian: “We recommend three key changes: limit company donations to the money that they have made in the UK; legally require parties to conduct know-your-donor checks on donations to assess and manage their risks; and ensure those who donate to unincorporated associations are permissible donors. We are discussing these proposals with the government.”
According to the paper, Twitter UK made pre-tax profits of £8.5m in 2022, significantly lower than the rumored $100 million (£80m) Mr Musk was said to be considering giving to Farage’s party.
Responding to the demands to change election rules, Mr Farage wrote on X on Thursday: “Once again the Electoral Commission prove themselves to be establishment stooges.
“Both Labour and the Tories are now terrified of Reform and Elon Musk. Never mind peerages for donations or the millions given to them by foreign businessman via UK companies in the past… This old order needs to be swept away.”
Mr Farage has long accused the Electoral Commission of having a political bias, having previously launched multiple investigations into parties he has led, all of which failed to find any criminal wrongdoing.
While the commission has rejected claims of bias, in 2018, the Sunday Telegraph revealed that 40 per cent of its board members publicly condemned the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
It is currently unclear if the government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would be willing to tighten rules around donations, however, with his left-wing Labour Party receiving more donations than all other parties combined ahead the general election in July.
Despite the supposed concern over foreign interference in elections, Labour’s largest single donor came from Gary Lubner, who like Elon Musk was born in South Africa. The London-based vehicle window repair businessman donated £4,527,500 to the Labour ahead of the election.
