Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Elon Musk has held private talks with allies about how Sir Keir Starmer could be removed as UK prime minister before the next general election, according to people briefed on the matter.
Musk, the world’s richest man and a key confidante of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, is examining how he and his right-wing allies can destabilize the U.K.’s Labor government beyond aggressive posts on his X social media platform, the people said.
“His view is that Western civilization itself is under threat,” one of the people added.
Musk sought information on whether it was possible to build support for alternative British political movements – particularly the right-wing populist Reform UK party – to force a change of prime minister before the next election, according to aides.
In the United Kingdom’s parliamentary system, prime ministers hold power because they lead the party with the most MPs.
Several prime ministers in recent decades, including Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, have won large majorities in elections, only to be forced out of parliament due to declining popularity.
The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X has taken a keen interest in British politics over the past six months and has been increasingly critical of the Starmer government.
Over the past week, he has called for a new national inquiry into historic grooming cases involving the sexual exploitation of girls by gangs of mainly British-Pakistani men in several UK towns and cities.
Musk accused Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions in England and Wales who dealt with child sexual abuse, of being “complicit” in rape in Britain.
He described Jess Phillips, the protection secretary, as a “rape genocide apologist” after she rejected Oldham council’s request for the Home Office to carry out a Whitehall-led inquiry into the groom scandal in Manchester city.
Starmer strongly rejected Musk’s criticism of his time as prosecutor. He said on Monday that those who “spread lies and misinformation” are not interested in the victims but “in themselves”. Phillips accused Musk of threatening her life.
Matt Goodwin, a right-wing political commentator, said Musk – and other Americans – have become “fascinated” by the UK’s groom gang scandal over the past week in part because it is “so horrible”.
But he also said he believed it was because Musk had an “instinctive distrust of the Labor government and Keir Starmer”.
Musk has been approached for comment.
In a shocking move over the weekend, Musk distanced himself from Nigel Farage, dashing the Reform UK leader’s hopes that the billionaire would make a big donation to his party in the near future.
Musk said that “the Reform Party needs a new leader” and that “Farage doesn’t have what it takes”.
Musk has been canvassing potential candidates to replace Farage as party leader, including UK Reform MP Rupert Lowe, and has explored what mechanisms are in place to replace him, according to people familiar with his thinking.
Reformist Britain has seen a surge in support in recent months, with opinion polls showing that 22 percent of citizens support the party, compared to 14 percent at the time of the July election.
Labour, on the other hand, has 28 per cent and the Tories 24 per cent, according to Politico’s poll of polls.
Musk’s rift with Farage comes after the two met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida last month, with the Reform UK leader describing the serial entrepreneur as a “friend”.
Farage played down the row on Tuesday. He told LBC radio that he would see Musk later this month and planned to travel to the US to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
“I have no desire to go to war with Elon Musk and I don’t intend to,” he added.
In contrast, Starmer is not expected to attend Trump’s inauguration. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also has no current plans to attend.
Additional reporting by Lucy Fisher
