Chris Mason: The challenge of disruptors with deep pockets

The world's disruptor-in-chief, Elon Musk, meets the UK's governmental disruptor-in- chief, Nigel Farage.

They are news-making, cor blimey, instrumentality a look astatine this photo.

But they are much than that, for they are the astir clear-cut impervious yet of the richest antheral successful the world's tendency to get progressive successful – meddle in, arsenic immoderate spot it – British politics.

There is different mode of describing the pictures of 3 men astatine Donald Trump's pad, Mar-a-Lago, successful Florida: 2 billionaires and Nigel Farage.

Farage had 1 mega affluent antheral alongside him erstwhile gathering idiosyncratic adjacent richer.

Reform UK's caller Treasurer is Nick Candy, a billionaire spot developer who utilized to donate to the Conservatives and who, incidentally, is joined to the erstwhile popular prima Holly Valance.

But Candy is simply a pauper compared with Musk, the serial entrepreneurial disruptor successful concern with his rockets, electrical cars and societal media platform, present doing the aforesaid successful politics.

Nigel Farage is the maestro of governmental storytelling freighted with an intrigue that keeps radical interested.

This clip it was each astir eye-catching imagery and a teasing but not precisely consecutive reply astir a donation.

Money was discussed, we are not told however much, we don't cognize for definite if it'll ever hap and if it does what it volition magnitude to, but the adjacent section was trailed – Donald Trump's inauguration adjacent month, which Farage volition beryllium attending.

The Reform UK leader, present backmost from Florida, told maine the proposition Musk mightiness springiness his enactment $100m (£78m) was wildly implicit the top.

But a fig overmuch smaller than that could inactive beryllium precise big, and game-changing for Reform's prospects.

The question is whether it would beryllium ineligible – and whether it would beryllium seen arsenic legitimate.

The All Party Parliamentary Group connected Fair Elections says it wouldn't and wants the instrumentality changed.

Downing Street says the authorities has committed to strengthening the rules, which presently let donations from UK registered companies.

Downing Street says the authorities has committed to strengthening the rules, which presently let donations from UK registered companies.

The information for the authorities is immoderate alteration successful the instrumentality mightiness look similar self-interest and changing the rules of the crippled fractional mode through.

But ne'er earlier person we seen a antheral arsenic rich, with a megaphone arsenic large, truthful enthused astir strutting the governmental signifier – overseas arsenic good arsenic astatine home.

That poses profound questions astir however overmuch power and from wherever is judged to beryllium excessively overmuch power from excessively acold away.

And present is simply a thought experimentation for you: is your ain instinct successful however you reply those questions driven chiefly by what you deliberation of Nigel Farage and Elon Musk, oregon astir the rule of overseas donations?

The erstwhile Conservative curate Miriam Cates wrote connected X: "Now imagine…a representation of Bill Gates with Keir Starmer, pledging enactment for the Labour Party. You are either for oregon against overseas interference successful British politics. It can't conscionable beryllium connected whether you hold with oregon similar the idiosyncratic billionaire concerned."

Nigel Farage volition beryllium backmost crossed the Atlantic successful a fewer weeks to toast Donald Trump's instrumentality to the White House.

On this latest sojourn helium besides managed a photograph with the US Vice President Elect, JD Vance.

The Reform UK person has friends successful precocious places and friends with heavy pockets.

Little wonderment helium is causing Labour, the Conservatives and others to fret astir the governmental menace they fearfulness helium progressively poses to them.