Musk calls for snap UK election in attack on Starmer
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has slammed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and called for early parliamentary elections in the UK, in an attack on the Labour government. The US-based tech billionaire, who has recently emerged as a close adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, expressed support for the Reform UK party and called for the release of jailed right-wing activist Tommy Robinson in a series of posts on X overnight.
In his posts, Musk questioned Starmer’s record as the head of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013 and accused him of failing to investigate “rape gangs” in Britain.
He also pointed to a recent YouGov poll suggesting an “absolutely stunning” decline in support for the Labour government. According to the poll published this week, only 12% of respondents said Labour have been successful so far, while more than half described it as ‘incompetent’ and ‘dishonest’.
“A new election should be called in Britain,” Musk wrote in a post on X, sharing the poll results. Starmer’s government currently enjoys a 163-seat majority following a landslide victory in July. The next parliamentary elections in the UK are scheduled to take place in 2029. London has not reacted to Musk’s latest statements so far.
The tech entrepreneur also shared a post agreeing with the statement that Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party is “the only way to save” Britain.
Musk earlier met with Farage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, with some media outlets claiming he had pledged as much as $100 million in support for the British party. Musk, however, denied the reports.
In a series of posts, he also called for the release of British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars in late October for publishing a documentary containing libelous claims about a Syrian refugee. The activist calls himself a “political prisoner” and claimed he was jailed for “speaking the truth.”
This is not the first time the US-based billionaire has harshly criticized the Labour government. In August, he said that a “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, prompting London to hit back, calling his words “totally unjustified.” In November, he supported a petition for early elections in the UK, which was backed by over 2 million signatures, and called Britain under Starmer a “tyrannical police state.”
Musk has also recently lashed out at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, predicting that he will lose snap elections in February, and expressing support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany party. Berlin reacted by warning that Musk’s statements could strain relations between Germany and the US.
