Senior politicians on the UK right have privately reached out to allies of US President-elect Donald Trump, urging them not to endorse far-right activist Tommy Robinson, also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, Bloomberg reports.
This intervention comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close advisor to Trump, publicly called for Robinson’s release from prison.
The move underscores a growing concern among mainstream right-wing figures in Britain about the potential ramifications of Musk’s support for the controversial figure. Several prominent Brexit-supporting politicians, with established links to Trump, have warned their Republican counterparts that endorsing Robinson is a “step too far,” according to sources familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity to discuss private communications. These politicians hail from both the Conservative and Reform UK parties.
Musk, who is expected to play a significant role in Trump’s upcoming administration, sparked controversy at the start of 2025 by posting on his social media platform X that Robinson should be freed from jail. Robinson is currently serving a sentence after pleading guilty to contempt of court last year.
Efforts to Distance from Robinson
The conversations between UK and US political figures sought to provide context to senior Republicans about why Robinson lacks support from mainstream British right-wingers. Robinson, known for his anti-immigration stance and history of criminal convictions, is viewed as too extreme by many within the Conservative and Reform UK parties, including leader Nigel Farage.
Farage, a personal friend of Trump and whose political career has been built on an anti-immigration platform, has repeatedly distanced himself from Robinson. He publicly condemned Robinson as “entirely unsuitable” for party politics and quit his former party UKIP in 2018 due to what he described as the party’s “obsession” with supporting him.
The British politicians made it clear to their US contacts that associating Farage with Robinson would be detrimental. Farage, who finally secured a seat in the UK House of Commons in July after several attempts, is trying to establish Reform UK as a viable alternative to the established Labour and Conservative parties, and a link to the controversial Robinson would undermine that effort.
Musk’s Influence and British Politics
This outreach by British politicians was triggered by Musk’s recent foray into British politics. Since Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won the general election last July, Musk has been a vocal critic of the new government, advocating for a new election and urging British voters to back Reform UK.
Recently, Musk posted about a child sex abuse scandal in British towns involving people of Pakistani origin, also calling for a Labour minister to be imprisoned over their handling of the situation.
While many on the British right share some of Musk’s criticisms of the Labour government and his concerns about the child abuse scandal, his endorsement of Robinson has been deemed unacceptable, according to sources involved in the outreach efforts. The behind-the-scenes communications highlight a clear divide between the positions of influential figures in the UK right and Musk on this particular issue.
