Hello and welcome to rock and roll politics, the podcast with me, Steve Richards. Thank you for tuning in

and happy new year to everyone in the rock and roll politics cooperative. It's only been going

a few days and politically it already feels pretty crazy. I found it really predictably bizarre when Elon Musk on Sunday tweeted that Nigel Farad should be removed as leader of reform.

It's very interesting in politics, the degree to which a perception of growing might feeds on itself. And it kind of casts a spell over the media and politics.

And the speculation that Musk might give millions and millions of pounds to Farage,

photos of Farage with Musk had given Farage a kind of aura. It's linked, of course, to Trump as well.

And then for Musk to tweet that he should be removed, you feel that weird dance coming to a close

and a spell being broken. Leadership is all about casting spells, successful leadership.

That doesn't mean that reform and Farage are not going to continue to be on a role.

They probably will be.

But I think it highlights an underlying fragility.

They will continue to be the insurrectionary force or portray themselves as

such, and that is a powerful position in an era where incumbents are despised, and some of the other

parties certainly in Britain and indeed elsewhere, are going through all kinds of

crises. But you can see the vulnerability. You know, Farage was making much of his contact with

Musk. Earlier on that Sunday, he had described him as a genius and tried to deflect questions

about Musk's various outrageous tweets,

and then he was himself disowned by Musk.

And I say part of a spell is broken, and he will have to show momentum again through other means.

He had already become part of a problem for Farage,

because Farage, who is a deeply flawed public figure,

is certainly not in the Tommy Robinson League,

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