New Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy has revealed there are “a number of billionaires” queuing up to give the party money as well as Elon Musk.
Following Mr Candy’s shock defection to Nigel Farage’s party earlier this month, he claims the UK will see “political disruption like we have never seen before” due to the sheer amount of potential donations.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the treasurer said: “We have a number of billionaires prepared to donate to the party, not just Elon.
“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.”
Despite the party having just five MPs, Reform UK came second in 98 seats in the July general election. Momentum has since continued, with Mr Candy adding: “The oldest political party in the world will be overtaken by the youngest political party on the planet.”
Mr Farage and Mr Candy met with Mr Musk earlier this month at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, US. The owner of Tesla said he was giving “serious thought” to making a donation.
The property tycoon said that the American billionaire would “be the first of many wealthy donors legally allowed to donate”.
Mr Candy did not reveal any names to who this may be, yet he told the newspaper that “even the big Tory donors are calling me”.
He said: “A lot of people will join us. The movement has started.” The treasurer switched to Reform promising a “seven-figure sum” for the party, explaining that he believes Reform has “more Conservative values in its little finger than the Conservative party”.
Due to laws preventing foreign donations directly to political parties, Mr Musk would have to funnel any donations he made through one of his UK-based businesses. The current rules say parties can accept donations from a number of different sources which include a UK-registered company, or individuals on the electoral register.
However, controversy surrounds this as the head of the Electoral Commission, Vijay Rangarajan, has called for the rules to be strengthened. In light of the meeting between Reform and the owner of X, he said the UK needs “to protect the electoral system from foreign interference”.
Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Rangarajan said: “It’s crucial that UK voters have trust in the financing of our political system, so they need to see how parties and campaigners are financed and how they spend that money at elections.”
