UK Politics: Farage favourite to be next PM but Musk says Reform need new leader

• Betfair Exchange launches next Reform leader market

• Musk calls for Farage to be replaced

• But Farage is still favourite to be next PM

Nigel Farage is still the favourite on the Betfair Exchange to be the UK's next prime minister despite Elon Musk saying Reform needed a new leader because the Clacton MP wasn't up to the task.

Reform UK leader Farage is 4.57/2 while the Conservatives' Kemi Badenoch is 6.25/1.

Musk says "Farage doesn't have what it takes"

Musk was photographed with Farage last month at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and was said to be prepared to make a significant donation to Reform that would helpe them win the next election.

They currently have five MPs but have been backed in to 3.814/5 on the Betfair Exchange to win the most seats next time Britons go to the polls. The Conservatives are 2.727/4 and Labour 2.767/4. The next UK general election is not scheduled to be held before 2029, although that could change.

Musk has been increasingly vocal about British politics recently and, at the weekend, shocked followers with his latest intervention in British politics via X:

The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn't have what it takes.

-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2025

Betfair Exchange launches market on next Reform leader

Farage and Musk disagree about the far-right activist Tommy Robinson who is currently in prison for contempt of court and who Musk believes should be released. Farage has said he would not welcome Robinson into the Reform fold.

Farage has been a massively influential figure in UK politics in the last decade and it is difficult to envisage Reform performing well without him.

So what is Musk thinking? Did he really hit out at Farage because of their disagreement over Robinson?

We don't know and it remains to be seen who, if anyone, is angling to challenge Farage for the Reform leadership.

But Musk has tweeted favourably about Reform MP, and former-Southampton FC chairman, Rupert Lowe. He is one of the names in the new Betfair Exchange market on the party's next leader.

As you would expect, Reform's other MPs - Richard Tice, Lee Anderson and James McMurdock - are also prominent in the early stages of the market.

But there also a clutch of prominent Tories listed, including Robert Jenrick, who lost out to Badenoch in last year's leadership election, former-home secretary Suella Braverman and even ex-prime minister Boris Johnson.

Musk helped Donald Trump make an unlikely political comeback and win the US election in 2024 - a result the Betfair Exchange markets called several weeks out . Trump will return to the White House later this month for his second term with Musk expected to play a key role in his administration.

Could Johnson, who was often referred to as the UK's Trump, be eyeing a political comeback? Is he a contender to lead Reform with Musk's backing? It's a dramatic notion but a bit of a stretch, even in our unpredictable times.

Musk's new interest in UK politics has sparked calls for legislation to limit foreign influence and donations to parties from abroad. Farage, who had expected to receive the billionaire's backing, may now come around to those arguments.

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