Could $100m of Elon Musk’s money sway a general election for Reform UK?

Over the 2024 general election period, combined donations to every UK party totalled about £50m. If reports are to be believed, Elon Musk could be about to give considerably more to just one – Reform UK. Is this a political game-changer? As ever with politics and money, there is no one answer.One caveat must be mentioned: not only is the prospect of the world’s richest person helping out Nigel Farage’s party still very much at the ideas stage, but the mooted figure of $100m (£80m) is disputed, with the Reform leader describing it as “for the birds”.That said, and with a final qualification that under electoral law, the donation would need to be channelled through a UK-based subsidiary, Musk does have a clear track record in shifting the political dial using his riches, spending an estimated $250m-plus helping Donald Trump get re-elected

Appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to US divides Labour MPs

Peter Mandelson has been formally unveiled as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, with a series of ministers hailing him as a political heavyweight who will be a reliable conduit into a potentially chaotic second Donald Trump administration.Some Labour MPs were, however, less enthusiastic, questioning why Keir Starmer would reward and trust a figure who had previously weighed in with outspoken criticism of the party’s policies and personalities.The decision, which emerged on Friday evening, was formalised in a Downing Street statement in which Starmer hailed Lord Mandelson, who was a cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before becoming the EU trade commissioner, for bringing “unrivalled experience” to the role.The foreign secretary, David Lammy, said Mandelson had “a wealth of experience in trade, economic and foreign policy from his years in government and the private sector”. The peer said he was deeply honoured, promising to “advance our historic alliance with the United States”

Peter Mandelson confirmed as new ambassador to US – as it happened

Sue Gray, the former chief of staff to Keir Starmer, has been announced as one of 30 new Labour peers as the government moves to rebalance the political forces in the House of Lords. The full list of the names is here.Keir Starmer has confirmed that Peter Mandelson is the new ambassador to the US and said he will bring “unrivalled experience” to the role. (See 4.28pm

Sue Gray given peerage as Labour seeks to rebalance Lords

Keir Starmer has named 30 new peers, including his former chief of staff Sue Gray, as the government moved to rebalance the political forces in the House of Lords after big reforms to the upper house were put on hold.In the much-trailed announcement, a string of other Labour grandees were appointed, including the former ministers Thangam Debbonaire and Kevin Brennan; the longtime Tony Blair staffer Anji Hunter; and the former TUC head Brendan Barber.The new Labour peers also include Luciana Berger, a former MP who quit the party over concerns about antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn; David Evans, who was Labour’s general secretary; and the former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones.In addition to Gray, another of Starmer’s former close aides, his ex-head of strategy Deborah Mattinson, was named.Of the new Labour peers, 17 are women, after the party pledged to redress the gender imbalance in the upper house

String of UK peers accepted free trips to authoritarian Azerbaijan

In years gone by, the two members of the House of Lords had been political enemies, running the headquarters of rival parties during hotly contested general election battles. In October, however, they stood side by side to pay their respects to the former president of Azerbaijan.A wreath laid at Heydar Aliyev’s grave in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, bore three names: Iain McNicol, Labour’s former general secretary, Darren Mott, the former chief executive of the Conservatives, and Tahir Gözel, a prominent local businessman who had paid for the peers’ visit.Lord McNicol and Lord Mott are identified in a joint investigation by the Guardian and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) as the most recent in a line of peers to have taken free trips to Azerbaijan, giving support to the government of President Ilham Aliyev.Aliyev has held power since 2003, having taken over from his father who governed the country under the Soviets and was first elected in 1993 after a military coup

High profile, high risk: could Mandelson help tame Donald Trump?

For some months, Lord Mandelson had been going round London suggesting he had no desire to be appointed to the role of Washington ambassador, saying he would rather not become a hotel manager so late in his career.His feigned lack of interest in shepherding a succession of middle-rank ministers through the British embassy, a 96-year-old recently restored Lutyens building, is typical of the smoke and mirrors that has surrounded his potential appointment.At another point, it was suggested that the appointment of Mandelson was being blocked by the foreign secretary, David Lammy, who feared one of the key roles in his job – guiding the special relationship through a second Trump term – would effectively be snatched from him by the publicity-attracting former minister.Lammy had already lost responsibility for EU negotiations and had to swallow the appointment of one Blairite, Jonathan Powell, as national security adviser, so tolerating a third reduction to his portfolio might be too much.In the end, if Lammy ever harboured such doubts – and the evidence is thin – he was big enough to see the virtue in the appointment of the first political ambassador to Washington in 50 years