Hard-right populist politicians are winning elections across Europe and America. Donald Trump swept the board in the US presidential elections, securing complete control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Viktor Orbán, the right-wing prime minister of Hungary, goes from strength to strength. The National Rally (formerly the National Front) in France, led by Marine Le Pen and the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party led by Giorgia Meloni, are dominating EU politics.

Despite gaining 4 million votes, Nigel Farage’s Reform Party won only 5 seats in the UK General Election; nevertheless, they overtook Labour in a recent nationwide poll. Right-wing populism is surging and with elections to Holyrood on the horizon for May 2026, there is a real fear that Farage and Reform may upset the Scottish applecart.

Sir Keir Starmer’s plummeting popularity and Labour’s ham-fisted performance in government, has seriously undermined Anas Sarwar’s hopes of sweeping Labour to victory in 2026 and left the door open for Reform.

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Now there are rumours that Elon Musk may donate up to $100 million (£80 million) to Reform. Although he denies it, Musk has refused to rule out a major donation. He could circumvent laws that prohibit foreign donations by making the payment through his UK-registered X (Twitter) organisation.

Musk is a close friend of both Donald Trump and, at least until Sunday, Nigel Farage, and a donation of this magnitude would transform the political scene in Britain, causing serious damage to the Tories and consequential impacts on Labour and the SNP. Reform claims it is about to create a political revolution in Britain. With that kind of money, it could.

Musk has now said Farage 'doesn't have what it........

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