Chris Mason: Musk looms large over UK politics as MPs return for 2025

The new year's political start is marked by a billionaire's verbal storm, his mouth proving more noteworthy than his bank account. Elon Musk, over the past few days, has launched digital "darts" across the Atlantic almost as frequently as Luke Littler has thrown physical ones.

The world's richest man has attacked the Prime Minister with the strongest possible language, almost as soon as Sir Keir Starmer settled into Downing Street. Recently, the focus has been on the issue of child sexual exploitation, with Musk accusing the Prime Minister of being "complicit in British rape" for failing to tackle related scandals during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions.

Sources say Sir Keir Starmer "does not want to get into a slanging match with Musk," but he will vigorously defend his record as chief prosecutor. He also emphasizes that political debate should be based on verifiable facts, noting that Musk's allegations are "blatantly untrue." For example, sources have pointed out that there are people defending the Prime Minister's record during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions.

The government has also pointed to local investigations into cases of abuse and rape of vulnerable girls, largely perpetrated by men of Pakistani heritage, as well as a national inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay. The Conservatives, Reform, and Elon Musk have all recently expressed varying degrees of anger at the government's refusal to hold a public inquiry into the scandal.

However, an unexpected twist emerged this weekend: just hours after Reform leader Nigel Farage described Musk as a "hero" and said he "makes us look cool," the owner of X stated that Reform needs a new leader as Farage "doesn't have what it takes." A Reform source said with a wry smile, "Not a great day, we probably look a bit silly."

Farage's repeated declarations of distancing himself from far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, appears to be at the heart of the dispute. Reform was unprepared for this. Just weeks ago, they were talking about a possible large donation from Elon Musk, but are now trying to put the best possible spin on the matter.

A senior party figure told me, "Nigel is not for sale," indicating that the Reform leader is willing to take on anyone, including the richest man in the world. Another figure said that if Reform is to be seen as a serious political organization—and remember, Nigel Farage has said he wants to win the next election—then it means resolutely and consistently rejecting any association with Robinson, whatever the consequences.

Currently, the only politician to have earned praise from Elon Musk is Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has called for a public inquiry into child sex abuse. Badenoch argues that the scandal is a case study in our broken politics.

For Badenoch, 2025 will be a crucial year as she tries to rebuild her party and gain attention—no easy task when Nigel Farage is around. Over Christmas, she had a public spat with Farage over party membership numbers: Badenoch claimed Reform's claim on Boxing Day that its membership had overtaken the Conservatives was "false" because their figures were automatically inflated.

Reform invited journalists to check the facts, which they did. Media outlets, such as the Financial Times, concluded there was "strong evidence" that the party's figures were accurate. In the coming weeks, we can expect to hear from Badenoch about so-called policy commissions she is setting up, and who will be leading them.

Also worth watching is Robert Jenrick, whom she defeated in the leadership contest, and who has not gone quietly. He is her shadow justice secretary, but his continued campaigning as if the leadership contest were still underway has irritated some senior Conservatives who would prefer he focused on policy rather than talking about what he wants to talk about.

As for the Prime Minister, facing pressure both internally and externally in his first six months in office, his biggest hope is to deliver on his promises. He has abandoned the usual New Year's vision speech, as his team feels his big speech last month already did that. Instead, he is focusing on one concrete pledge: to cut hospital waiting lists in England. He will hold similar events and visits in the coming weeks on the government's other major promises.

And that is the political start to 2025. We are not even a week in and it is already proving to be quite eventful.