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Reform MPs including Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson have been accused of profiting from “spreading hateful rhetoric” after it emerged they’ve made thousands of pounds from posting on the social media site X.
Mr Farage, Mr Anderson and Rupert Lowe MP have all declared thousands in payments from the company in their recent parliamentary register of interests, via billionaire Elon Musk’s ‘Creator’ revenue programme.
The scheme allows premium users with more than 500 verified followers to ‘monetise’ their accounts on the controversial site, which has grown increasingly toxic since it was taken over by the Tesla tycoon in 2022.
More than £10,000 has been paid to the right-wing trio since July last year, with Mr Farage having earned the most so far, according to parliamentary filings. The Clacton-on-Sea MP, who has 2.2m followers, has made in excess of £5,000 since entering the scheme.
A Labour source told The Independent: “We’ve always known that – for every person who spreads hateful rhetoric on X because they want to divide our society – there is another set of grifters who do it just to make money. It looks like these Reform MPs fall in both categories, and no-one will be in the least bit surprised.”
Carla Denyer, MP for Bristol Central and Green Party co-leader, told said the profits mark an “unholy alliance” between the far-right and Elon Musk.
“The fact that Reform MPs are profiting financially from posting on Musk’s X tells us all we need to know about how genuine their motives are,” she said.
“Neither Musk nor Farage have ordinary people’s interests at heart. They don’t want to make people’s lives better, and they don’t value our democracy. They want to strip away protections for workers to make it easier for them and their super-rich buddies to make money, and don’t care what damage they do to our communities in the process.”
However, Mr Farage has suggested that Reform MPs are not the only ministers making money from the scheme, though he and his colleagues are the only members to have declared payments.
He said: “Many MPs are on X and have the tick. Whilst their views are tiny compared to ours they will be receiving money, it’s automatic once you pay for the tick so why are we the only ones declaring?”
On December 16, Mr Anderson said he had been paid £107.50 from the corporation. The day after, the Ashfield MP declared he was expected to receive a further £1,612.63.
He said: “I am making a few quid on X and paying 40 per cent income tax which will help pay for public services. These low level MPs complaining are quite happy to rip of the tax payer with their wages and expenses yet at the same time refuse to help thousands of young girls who have been raped by Pakistani rape gangs. They should hang their heads in shame.”
His fellow Reform MP Mr Lowe declared on December 11 that he had received £1,384.81 from the company. It comes after he registered a £3,259.18 payment from X Corp on December 3, meaning he has received over £4,600 from the corporation in total.
The Great Yarmouth MP said he donates his entire MP salary to local charities and said: “This is the most expensive job I have ever had – if I was in this to ‘make money’, I am going about it an incredibly stupid way.”
Musk, who promotes the system as a way for users to “get paid to post” and “earn a living on X”, previously claimed that its revenue-sharing programme would reward “accuracy over sensationalism”.
In a recent update, X said it “evaluates earnings based on genuine interactions, such as replies, likes, bookmarks and the time Premium users spend viewing your content.”
However, the billionaire has been increasingly vocal on UK politics, with his involvement intensifying in the last week after he launched an attack on Labour’s handling of the child grooming scandal.
The Tesla boss has been a steadfast supporter of Reform UK, having met Mr Farage at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in December.
However, relations have recently soured after Musk seemingly withdrew his support for the Clacton MP on Sunday over Mr Farage’s rejection of calls to support jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Musk posted: “The Reform Party need a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
Mr Farage has also received payments from Meta and Google, amounting to £2,793 and £11,116 respectively since last summer.
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