UPDATE: |Nigel Farage says Elon Musk calling for new Reform leader was ‘him trying to encourage me’ News

The billionaire adviser to Donald Trump called for a new leader of Reform UK

Nigel Farage has claimed that Elon Musk was “just trying to encourage” him by tweeting that he “doesn’t have what it takes” to efficiently lead the Reform UK political party.

The billionaire adviser to Donald Trump, who had previously shared warm relations with the controversial British politician, called for Mr Farage to be replaced at the head of Reform in January – leading to a falling out between the pair.

At the time there had been speculation that the world’s richest man could donate $100m to the party, in what would have been the largest political donation in British history.

However, following a dispute between both men regarding the jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, Mr Musk took to his own social media platform to express his support for the now-Independent MP Rupert Lowe – suggesting he could take over the right-wing populist group.

Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage said he had since met Mr Musk and discussed the tweet.

“We talked about it,” he said.

He added: “He was just trying to encourage me in a few policy areas, ones I wasn’t prepared to go down.”

He was also questioned over his claim that his association with Mr Musk made the party look “cool”.

He responded: “As far as young people are concerned in Britain, we are certainly cooler than the other parties”.

Mr Farage has consistently been opposed to allowing Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – to join his political parties, describing him as “thuggish”.

But Mr Musk began making supportive comments about the far-right figure earlier this year during a row over the handling of group-based child sexual exploitation in towns around the UK.

Despite the clash with the Tesla and Space X founder, Mr Farage has continued to praise the billionaire.

He insisted they are still “on good terms” and described him as a “hero” during an appearance at a right-wing conference in America in February.

While on the BBC this morning, the 61-year-old also accused the Chinese Communist Party of deliberately sabotaging British Steel, but failed to provide any evidence for his claim.