British people cannot be ‘easily bought’, says Badenoch in Musk dig

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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said it would be “unhelpful” if Nigel Farage accepted a big donation from Elon Musk, saying “people don’t like to see politics bought”.

BadenochCriticized by some Tories for his poor start to life, he faces an increasing political threat from Farage’s populist Reform UK. Farage has been talking to the tech billionaire about party donations.

The Conservative leader said he supports competition, adding: “I think that if Elon Musk is giving a party, a party of competition, then it is difficult for me to make sure that I promote that.”

Nick Candy, the new Reform treasurer, has promised Britain to “disrupt politics like we’ve never seen before”. told the Financial Times he also made other billionaires including Musk.

Regarding Musk, Badenoch said: “I don’t believe he will give the money but it doesn’t matter if he does.”

He added: “Politics in the US is very different to politics in the UK. People in this country don’t like to see politics being bought. I think it can be confusing.”

Last week, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith urged Musk to take over another look at the Tories before donating money to Reform, saying his party was a staunch opponent of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor government.

Badenoch became Tory leader on November 2 and it has now been almost six months since the Conservatives lost the election to Labour, but he has so far refused to set out any real policies to revive his party.

But he insisted it was “a race not a race” and urged voters to be patient, saying there was plenty of time to detail the process before the general election, which is due to take place in 2029.

However, Badenoch faces an uphill battle in the short term, with Reform UK closing in on the Tories. in recent polls and threatens to go even further by taking on the Conservatives’ money in the local elections due in May next year.

The Tory leader criticized Reform for giving voters “easy answers” and said they “didn’t think it through”. He told the BBC Today Program: “All I can say to people is, aren’t you tired of people telling you lies?”

The Tory leader has set out his party’s key principles, including a belief in a smaller nation, lower taxes and a crackdown on immigration.

“I think and what people will get with the new leadership under me is thoughtful conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis,” Badenoch said.

He admitted the Conservatives had “let people down” over immigration, suggesting the Whitehall machine or government lobbyists had persuaded ministers to remove controls.

Net migration rose by 900,000 in a year under the Conservatives, according to the latest figures. Badenoch called for a cap on all numbers but declined to say where it should be installed.

“I think it’s going well,” Badenoch said of his first few weeks as Conservative leader. “I expected it to be more difficult.” He said the party had “dropped cyber weapons”.

Badenoch added: “Seeing a Labor government reminds everyone who the real enemy is.”