New blow for Elon Musk as thousands of Brits object to world's richest man's latest move

More than 8,000 people have asked Ofgem to block Tesla from supplying British households with electricity over owner Elon Musk's "clear political agenda".

The company applied for a licence from the energy regulator last month, aiming to start supplying power to homes and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales as soon as next year.

But its billionaire owner's political activity, including his support for Donald Trump and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has drawn objections to the application from the public.

Campaign group Best for Britain has urged the public to write to Ofgem, arguing Mr Musk is not a "fit and proper" person to have "a foothold in our essential services".

Some 8,462 people have used the group's online tool to lodge objections with Ofgem so far.

Best for Britain's chief executive Naomi Smith said: "We've all had a front row seat to Musk's malign influence, turning Twitter into an incubator for right-wing hate, promoting baseless conspiracy theories and helping Trump secure a second term as US president - something that continues to change our world in profoundly dangerous ways.

"British people are rightly against Musk being anywhere near our electricity supply and that's why we are encouraging more people to make their views known before Friday by using our online tool to write to Ofgem and say they oppose this power grab - it only takes two minutes."

Members of the public have until Friday to comment on the application, after which Ofgem will decide whether to grant Tesla a licence to supply electricity.

The electric car manufacturer, run by the world's richest man, also has a solar energy and battery storage business.

Tesla has been involved in the UK energy market since 2020, when it was granted a licence to be an electricity generator.

In the US, the group has been an electricity supplier in Texas for the past three years.

The application comes amid a backdrop of waning demand for Tesla's electric vehicles across Europe in recent months.

Industry figures showed an almost 60% plunge in the number of new Tesla registrations in the UK in July, compared with a year earlier.

Data showed that 987 new vehicles were registered in the UK in July compared with 2,462 in the same month a year earlier.

Tesla was approached for comment for this story.