Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Nick Candy, the new treasurer of Nigel Farage’s rightwing Reform party, has promised Britain “political disruption like we have never seen before” as he claimed to have several other billionaire backers in addition to Elon Musk.
The property developer told the Financial Times that he would “raise more money than any other political party” and that Reform would have more members than the Conservative party within three months as it drew disillusioned Tory and Labour voters.
“We have a number of billionaires prepared to donate to the party, not just Elon,” Candy said. “The Reform Party is the disrupter — this is the seed round, the series A. This will be political disruption like we have never seen before.”
“The oldest political party in the world will be overtaken by the youngest political party on the planet,” he added.
Many in Westminster fear that a financial intervention from Musk could have a significant and lasting impact on British politics, giving Reform the resources to transform itself into an established vehicle for power.
The party has just five MPs, but it came second in 98 seats in the July general election, 89 of those seats were won by Labour.
After meeting Musk this week at US president-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Farage said the owner of Tesla and X was giving “serious thought” to making a donation.
Foreigners can give money to UK political parties through British businesses they own, but are forbidden from donating directly.
The Electoral Commission, the UK’s elections watchdog, is in discussions with the government about changing the law to ensure only profits made in the UK can be donated to parties — a move backed by Sir Keir Starmer’s adviser on ethical standards.
Lucy Powell, leader of the House of Commons, confirmed on Sunday that the government would introduce legislation as early as next year to ensure political donations were “fair and robust”.
Candy, who arranged the meeting between Musk and Farage, said the US billionaire would “be the first of many wealthy donors legally allowed to donate”. He declined to name the other billionaires prepared to donate.
Candy, who defected from the Tories to Reform this month, has pledged to give at least £1mn of his own money to the party. He said cash raised would be spent on “the ground game, data analysis and polling” for a party that needs to build up its infrastructure and systems.
Describing Reform as having “more Conservative values in its little finger than the Conservative party”, Candy said “Even the big Tory donors are calling me . . . A lot of people will join us. The movement has started.”
In November, Reform said it had surpassed 100,000 members. The Tory party has about 130,000 members.
Candy criticised the previous Conservative government and current Labour administration for overseeing the “largest brain drain this country has ever seen. So many people are disillusioned. We are in serious decline and need to stop it”.
Reform — which hopes to win hundreds of council seats at local elections in May, and at least one mayoralty — has been buoyed in recent weeks by a series of high-profile Tory defections.
They include Tim Montgomerie, founder of the ConservativeHome website, and former Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns.
Read the full article here
