We should be wary about the danger of hyper-rich donors obtaining undue influence over political parties. There is none more hyper-rich than Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man by a country mile with a net worth of around $500 billion (£400 billion). There are persistent rumours that he could donate as much as $100 million to Reform, to the extent that the Tories are trying to muscle their way in and get some of the money themselves.
Deep pockets would improve Nigel Farage’s electoral prospects. But the claims that Musk could dramatically change Reform’s fortunes aren’t realistic.
Musk’s donations – believed to be $227 million (£180 million) – certainly helped Donald Trump win the White House in November. However, British elections are simply not comparable. The group Open Secrets calculated that $16 billion (£12.7 billion) was spent on this year’s presidential election, with substantial amounts coming from extremely wealthy individual donors.
In Britain, the finances of political parties are regulated by the Electoral
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