Majority of public think Elon Musk has negative impact on UK politics in new poll

Half the public think Elon Musk is having a negative impact on UK politics following his slew of attacks on Sir Keir Starmer and other Labour figures.

The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week using his social media platform X, attacking the Prime Minister over his opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs.

In other posts he has expressed support for Reform UK, but called for its leader Nigel Farage to step aside, and asked his 212 million followers whether America should “liberate” the UK from its “tyrannical government”.

Interference

He has also been reported to be looking into ways to help remove the Prime Minister from office, and was previously said to be considering a large donation to Reform UK, something senior figures in the party have now dismissed.

But a poll published on Saturday suggested widespread opposition to Mr Musk’s involvement in British politics.

Some 53% of people told pollster Opinium they thought Mr Musk was having a negative impact on British politics, compared to just 12% who thought he was having a positive one.

On his comments about grooming gangs specifically, 47% said they thought Mr Musk was being “unhelpful”, compared to 26% who thought the opposite.

Reform UK voters were similarly unmoved by his claim that Mr Farage should stand down as party leader, with 71% saying the Clacton MP was the best leader they could have now.

Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said a “lack of enthusiasm about a foreign billionaire involving himself in British politics” was “one area of agreement” among the public.

Earlier this week, Mr Farage insisted he could repair relations with the Tesla chief executive and incoming adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, but said Mr Musk’s support was not “crucial” and it was more important to maintain his long-standing opposition to jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The split between Mr Farage and Mr Musk came after the billionaire expressed strong support for Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Fractured

The Opinium poll found that the public was split on the issue of holding another national inquiry into grooming gangs, with 36% backing such a probe.

Some 28% thought local councils should hold their own inquiries instead while the Government focused on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that reported in 2022.

Mr Drummond said: “If you ask voters ‘should there be an inquiry into an important issue’ the answer will be ‘yes’.

“An inquiry sounds like doing something about the problem and doesn’t really consider opportunity costs. So it’s not surprising that the numbers are more nuanced when we put actual courses of action in front of people.”

But there was also widespread disapproval for both main parties’ handling of the issue.

Approval of the Labour Government’s handling of the issue was a net minus 17%, but approval of the previous Conservative government’s approach was even lower at minus 27%. There was little support for the Tories’ current approach either, which scored a net approval rating of minus 11%.

The Opinium poll surveyed 2,050 UK adults online between January 8 and 10.