The issue of foreign interference through donations came to the fore amid reports Elon Musk had been considering giving Reform $100 million before he fell out with Nigel Farage. Angela Rayner has told MPs that she plans to bring in a new law governing party donations and election rules before the next general election expected in 2029.
The deputy prime minister told the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee in the Commons that voters “need transparency” on where party funding is coming from. The issue was raised in the wake of concerns over foreign interference after it was mooted that X social media platform owner Elon Musk might give Reform UK $100 million.
Currently the law would allow for a foreign national to give huge sums of money to a party which could alter the course of an election and political landscape in the UK. While Reform leader Nigel Farage and Mr Musk have had a spectacular falling out this week over far right activist Tommy Robinson, the concerns over money pouring from America to aid Farage still remains.
Ms Rayner was giving her first session of evidence to the select committee since being given the housing, communities and local government brief which includes the management of elections which are overseen by councils. She was pressed on the issue of party funding by newly elected Kensington and Bayswater Labour MP Joe Powell.
