It’s unclear what prompted Musk to post message on X saying Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to be Reform UK’s leader

Elon Musk has said Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to be Reform UK’s leader, hours after Farage refused to condemn the billionaire businessman for his inflammatory comments about Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips.

In a surprise intervention, less than three weeks after Musk met Farage at Donald Trump’s Florida home amid reports he could donate $100m (£80m) to Reform, Musk used X, the social media platform he owns, to say: “The Reform party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”