Elon Musk has expressed an interest in backing an alternative to Reform UK, following a spat that erupted last week between the populist party’s leader Nigel Farage and his most high-profile MP.
The tech billionaire’s allies say he has indicated he would support a credible alternative party, according to people familiar with the matter, after Reform on Friday suspended Rupert Lowe, one of its five MPs.
Reform claimed Lowe had been reported to the police over alleged threats of violence against the party’s chair and that a lawyer had been hired to investigate allegations of bullying in his office.
The civil war has thrown Reform into disarray and threatens to overshadow the momentum the party has built from its extraordinary polling success, where its support has recently topped that of Labour and the Conservatives.
In December, Farage travelled to the US and announced Musk was considering making a significant donation to Reform, with media reports claiming he could provide up to £100mn.
Musk, who did not respond to a request for comment on his suggestion that he could back an alternative group, has thrown his support behind rightwing parties around the world, including Reform and Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), which made huge gains in elections last month. He has also forged a bond with Italy’s rightwing prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Though Musk became heavily involved in British politics at the start of the year — tweeting about the UK dozens of times a day and often disparaging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer — his engagement has tapered off since he took a prominent role in Donald Trump’s administration, advising on how to slash government spending.
One senior figure close to Lowe said there had also been discussions among former party officials about forming an alternative group to Reform, although they were clearly aware of the huge challenges it would entail.
“Rupert is a fighter, he’s a bulldog, he won’t be bowed by this,” the person said, adding Lowe is considering suing Reform for defamation.
The person said the “real trigger” of tension between Farage and Lowe was Musk’s decision to post on X in January that Reform needed a “new leader”, along with his indication that Lowe could be a possible replacement.
Divisions between the two men intensified in recent weeks. Lowe was angered about the party’s decision to announce a new plan to impose taxes on renewable energy companies to recoup government subsidies. One of his companies installs solar panels and battery storage equipment and would be subject to the tax.
“That policy was in part designed to irritate Rupert,” said one of Lowe’s allies, who said he was visibly angered after it was announced.
Lowe told the Financial Times on Monday: “Taxing subsidies is an oxymoron!”
Lowe also claimed his desire to deport “huge numbers of illegal migrants” had also exacerbated tensions.
He wrote on X over the weekend: “I have been warned by those at the top of Reform about my position on deportations. As you likely know from reading my extensive output on the subject, I did not listen to a word said.”
Musk has endorsed several of Lowe’s posts relating to illegal migration and deportations in recent weeks.
Lowe has been making considerably more income from his engagement on Musk’s social media platform X than Farage as part of the social media site’s “creator revenue” programme which allows premium users to monetise posts that get a lot of traction online. Lowe received nearly £20,000 in payments from X since December alone while Farage made £4,000 in the same period, according to the MPs’ register of interests.
Farage has accused Lowe of falling out with all of his parliamentary colleagues “in one way or another”, and claimed two female staff members at Reform’s party headquarters made allegations of workplace bullying “involving Mr Lowe”.
He also said Lowe had been reported to the police on Thursday over threats he allegedly made to party chair Zia Yusuf in December.
Lowe has said the allegations against him are politically motivated and noted his alleged threats against Yusuf were only reported to the police last week, a day after the Daily Mail ran an interview with Lowe in which he accused Farage of having “messianic qualities”.
He has also said the bullying allegations made were not against Lowe himself, but related to another member of staff.
A Reform spokesperson said: Rupert was “informed of the independent investigation” on February 28. “His interview in the Mail appeared seven days later on the fifth of March.”
Jeremy Hosking, one of Reform’s biggest backers in recent years, told the FT the public spat was “very disappointing”, adding: “Reform needs to be gathering serious-minded people to its colours, not thinning their ranks.”
Hosking added Reclaim, the alternative rightwing party that he has financed more heavily in recent years, would “surely be enhanced” by recent developments at Reform. “I would hope that discussions might take place between Lowe and Reclaim,” he added.
Lowe, speaking on Dan Wootton’s YouTube channel on Monday, said: “Is there a way back [to Reform UK]? I think it’s highly unlikely.” He also declined to rule out joining the Tories or forming a new political party.
Farage’s party has made net gains of 12 council seats in by-elections since the July 5 general election, compared with 23 net gains by the Tories, two net gains by the Liberal Democrats, and a net loss of 35 seats by Labour.
Alex Stevenson, a former parliamentary candidate for the party in Derbyshire who resigned in January, said frustration among the party’s historic activist base was posing a “real danger” to Reform. Farage and Yusuf have purged dozens of candidates and staffers, leading in some cases to legal action.
“We were all led to believe it was a grassroots party but it’s being replaced by people who have money or are friends of the party leadership,” Stevenson said.
Additional reporting by Joe Miller in Washington and Lucy Fisher in London
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