Elon Musk withdrew his support for Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage after a spat over Musk’s demand for the release of far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.
On Sunday, Musk took to his social media platform X to say Reform UK needs a new leader as Farage has failed to stand up for Yaxley-Lennon. “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes,” Musk said.
Last week, Musk falsely claimed the activist, who is serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court, had been jailed for exposing a child grooming scandal that rocked the UK in the 2010s. Yaxley-Lennon was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to breaching an injunction related to false allegations he made against a Syrian refugee schoolboy, who won a libel action against him.
When pushed on Musk’s defence of Yaxley-Lennon, Farage clarified that the activist was imprisoned for contempt of court, not for speaking out against grooming gangs. “We’re a political party trying to win the next general election. He’s not what we need,” Farage said in an interview with GB News.
Musk’s attack on Farage comes after a brief period of public backing for Reform UK, which was originally founded by Farage in 2018 as the Brexit Party. Farage had previously spoken of active discussions with Musk about donations to the party.
But Farage had hit back against Musk, saying:
“Elon is a remarkable individual, but on this I am afraid I disagree. My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform, and I never sell out my principles.”
Musk is often described as one of the wealthiest people in the world and has become an increasingly political voice worldwide, especially since publicly supporting the re-election campaign of US President-elect Donald Trump. In recent weeks, Musk accused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failing to tackle grooming gangs when he was the chief public prosecutor and called for charges related to alleged complicity in such crimes.
UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting reacted to Musk’s comments, stating: “His comments are misjudged and certainly misinformed.” An inquiry in 2014 discovered that at least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham, northern England, by men of predominantly Pakistani heritage between 1997 and 2013.
The inquiry, led by academic Alexis Jay, found systemic failures by authorities to act on abuse allegations, including some staff fearing being labeled racist if they identified the ethnic origin of perpetrators. While the Rotherham case did indeed primarily involve South Asian perpetrators, a 2020 Home Office study reported that most offenders in group-based child sexual exploitation cases are white.
Musk, set to become the presumptive co-leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency in the incoming Trump administration, has previously promoted the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, which has been classified by German security services as a suspected extremist organization.
