Elon Musk, the tech titan who has revolutionised space travel and electric cars, has once again waded into British politics with the subtlety of a Cybertruck crashing into a late summer vicarage garden party. His latest intervention came via a tweet endorsing Advance UK, the fledgling splinter group led by Ben Habib, former Reform UK deputy leader and Brexit party MEP. ‘Advance UK will actually drive change,’ Musk declared, dismissing Nigel Farage as ‘weak sauce who will do nothing.’ This was in direct response to Tommy Robinson’s call for supporters to rally behind Habib’s outfit, while urging figures like Rupert Lowe to join. But make no mistake: this isn’t really about Habib or Farage. It’s about Robinson, the Luton-born activist whom Musk has increasingly lionised.
Musk, a genius in his domain, errs here. His view of the UK is filtered through a silo of highly active but politically peripheral X accounts, obsessed with fear and fringe narratives
Since the start of 2025, Musk has done Britain an invaluable service by spotlighting the horrors of the grooming gangs scandal. His relentless posts on X – accusing authorities of covering up the systematic rape of thousands of young girls, often by Pakistani-origin men – forced the Labour government to concede a national inquiry in June. Months later, silence reigns in government. What are you up to, Angela Rayner? Is that what crossed your mind as you puffed on your dinghy-borne vape during your break? The inquiry, promised amid the furore, seems to have vanished into bureaucratic ether. Musk is now offering to fund legal challenges against complicit officials.
Initially, Musk appeared supportive of Reform UK, aligning with its anti-establishment ethos. But over the year, his affections shifted toward Robinson, the ‘Luton rebel.’ That Robinson has spent years focusing on grooming gangs cannot be denied. He’s articulate, intelligent, and working-class, a voice that refuses to be silenced. Yet Robinson carries baggage, and many who flock to him are racist. Guilt by association clings like tar. For Reform strategists, Robinson acts as a magnet for those driven more by racial animus than policy nuance, a liability in a party aiming for mainstream credibility, whilst maintaining its radical core.
Enter Ben Habib. In 2019, as a Brexit party candidate, Habib dismissed joining Ukip precisely because of its ties to Robinson: ‘Rightly or wrongly, it [Ukip] is seen as a xenophobic, perhaps racist, Islamophobic party on the right-hand fringe of politics, and I couldn’t join a party with that sort of reputation. They’ve hired Tommy Robinson to advise them and that pushes Ukip to a part of the political spectrum in which I simply do not belong and do not subscribe,’ he said then. To be honest, this is why I left Ukip in 2018.
Fast-forward to 2025: Habib, ousted as Reform’s deputy, launches Advance UK, an outfit with similar fringes. Musk’s endorsement, far from elevating the party, condemns Advance to the sidelines. By coming into Robinson’s orbit, Habib inherits the same reputational toxins he once decried.
For Farage and Reform, Musk’s attack is sunlight, the best disinfectant. It clarifies the divide: Reform as a broad church for disillusioned patriots, not a niche for extremists. Today, Reform celebrated its first MSP. Scottish Tory Graham Simpson defected, citing the party’s vision for change. Just weeks ago, Welsh Conservative Laura Anne Jones joined, becoming Reform’s first Senedd member. Polling tells the tale: Reform has led national surveys for nearly 100 consecutive days, averaging seven points ahead of Labour and over ten above the Tories. They’re winning council by-elections in gritty Red Wall seats and leafy Surrey enclaves alike, while driving the agenda on immigration, net zero and economic reform. Labour, grappling with internal cracks and policy failures, scrambles to respond.
Reform isn’t just protesting; it has a genuine shot at halting Britain’s seemingly inevitable decline. Musk, a genius in his domain, errs here. His view of the UK is filtered through a silo of highly active but politically peripheral X accounts, obsessed with fear and fringe narratives. Britain is greater than that echo chamber. It’s a nation yearning to break the technocratic uniparty stranglehold, and Reform is the serious vehicle for that. Right now, there just isn’t another option. In Edinburgh today Farage described Reform as a late teen, not yet fully ready but getting there. Musk is putting his support behind a party that has not even been weaned, and given the vicissitudes of British electoral politics and the egos of those involved, unlikely ever to get out of short trousers.
Musk should step back, turn the telescope around, and see the bigger picture. Backing the wrong horse risks undermining the very change he claims to champion.
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