Musk adds fact-check to Badenoch’s tweet over ‘fake’ Reform membership numbers

Elon Musk has put a fact-check alert on Kemi Badenoch’s tweets in which she claimed that Reform UK had faked its membership numbers.

A war of words has broken out after the Conservative leader accused Nigel Farage of “fakery” in response to Reform’s claims that they had surpassed the Tories’ number of signed-up members.

Mr Farage is considering legal action against the Tory leader if she fails to apologise for her “intemperate outburst” after Reform revealed the inner workings of its tracker, saying that it proves his claim that the party now has more members.

Mrs Badenoch’s tweeting has since been hit with a “community note”, a form of correction, which says: “This claim is false. It’s not a ‘fake ticker’ – the website code clearly shows data being pulled via an API [software].”

It comes as grassroots Tory leaders warn that Reform’s Trump-style youth movement and “razzmatazz” threaten to make the Conservatives irrelevant.

Claire Bullivant, the editor of the Conservative Post, a grassroots website, said that Reform was fostering a UK version of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement that attracted a broad base of Americans to Donald Trump.

She said: “Reform has tapped into the pulse of younger voters, capturing their imaginations with unapologetic patriotism and an electric energy.

“The Conservatives must harness the passion and audacity of Reform UK, a rising force igniting what could evolve into a uniquely British MAGA-style movement.

“The Tories must wake up. To remain relevant, they need to rebrand with conviction, rediscover boldness, and hold Labour’s faltering leadership to account with unrelenting vigour.”

Reform figures ‘fakery’

Reform membership has surged thanks to an influx of younger members attracted by a cheaper fee of £10 for those aged 25 and under. Last weekend, Mr Farage announced that 1,000 young people had joined the party in less than 48 hours.

Earlier this week, Mr Farage’s party said his party had more members than the Conservatives for the first time.

The announcement sparked a row with Mrs Badenoch, who said figures putting Reform membership at more than 130,000 were “fakery”.

The news the party had overtaken the Tories in membership numbers prompted Mrs Badenoch to launch a five-part post on X, the social media site owned by Mr Musk, accusing Mr Farage and Reform of bombarding the public with “endless lies, smoke and mirrors” and a counter that was “coded to tick up automatically”.

Mr Farage has demanded that Mrs Badenoch apologise for her “intemperate outburst” and hinted he is considering legal action.

John Strafford, the chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy, said Mrs Badenoch’s intervention was a “major error”.

He added: “I can’t tell you the number of members saying to me on WhatsApp that they are not going to renew their membership. They look at Reform and say it is coming out with Conservative policies.

“With reform on a roll up to the local election in May, it looks very clear that we could lose a lot of seats there and it will be a disaster for the Tory party.”

Ms Bullivant added: “As Labour’s appeal continues to crumble, young voters will increasingly be drawn to the dynamic, patriotic content that celebrates Britishness and dares to inject some much-needed razzmatazz into the political stage.”

Musk a ‘bloody hero’

It comes after Mr Farage has claimed that Mr Musk would help Reform win the youth vote because he is an “absolute hero figure” to young people.

He credited the richest man in the world as a “huge help” in connecting the party with young people.

Describing Mr Musk as a “bloody hero”, Mr Farage said: “The shades, the bomber jacket, the whole vibe. Elon makes us cool.

“Reform only wins the next election if it gets the youth vote. The youth vote is the key. Of course you need voters of all ages, but if you get a wave of youth enthusiasm you can change everything.”

Mr Musk, who met Mr Farage at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this month, welcomed Reform’s rising membership figures earlier this week, saying that “change is coming”. It has been speculated that he could donate as much as $100 million (£78 million) to the party.

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