Is it even legal for Musk to give Farage's party $100m?

Elon Musk's emergence as a Reform UK supporter has startled the established parties, and with good reason. Thanks to his close association with Donald Trump, the richest person in the world has seen his net wealth rise further to around $400bn since the presidential election.

- SEAN O'GRADY

He has not been shy about using his money for political purposes: $45m per month to the Trump campaign, for example. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his new party treasurer Nick Candy (a relatively junior billionaire in the scheme of things) went to Trump HQ in Florida and spent an hour discussing how Musk could help them. Money was discussed and perhaps also digital campaigning techniques. Photographs of the threesome at Mar-a-Lago have dismayed many and terrified political rivals. But what might Musk do?

Is Musk going to give Reform UK $100m (£78m)?

This figure has been widely reported, if speculatively, but Farage says that no actual figures have been tabled. He says the $100m figure is “for the birds” but even a much lower figure would dwarf all other political donations in British history and would exceed the national spending cap for a general election, including local candidate expenditure. If a political party chooses to contest all 632 seats in Great Britain at a general election, it is able to spend just over £34m.