Nigel Farage has drink thrown over him after launching election campaign in Clacton | Politics News
Nigel Farage has had a drink thrown over him after launching his election campaign in Essex.
The new leader of Reform UK was leaving the Wetherspoons Moon and Starfish pub in Clacton, where he is standing to be an MP, when a young woman in a grey hooded jumper threw a drink in his face then threw the cup at him and walked off.
It appeared to be a McDonald’s milkshake.
He was seen wincing as the liquid hit his face, then wiped it away as he was ushered out of the way by his team.
Nigel Farage appeared to not be too happy after having the milkshake thrown in his face. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Just a few hours earlier, he had launched his election campaign surrounded by hundreds of supporters after announcing he would be standing as a Reform UK candidate on Monday.
Last week he said he had ruled out standing as an MP. He has unsuccessfully attempted to become an MP seven times previously.
Richard Tice, who Mr Farage took over from as leader of Reform on Monday, stood up for his successor.
“The juvenile moron who threw a drink over Nigel has just gained us hundreds of thousands more votes,” he wrote on social media.
“We will not be bullied or threatened off the campaign trail.”
Giles Watling, the Conservative candidate in Clacton, said he was sorry his rival had a drink thrown at him.
“We may disagree, but every candidate has the right to campaign without fear of violence or intimidation!” he added.
Former Conservative minister and lawyer Robert Jenrick said it was “clearly a criminal offence” and said there “can be no place for this kind of behaviour towards any candidate from any political party on the campaign trail”.
Nigel Farage after he was doused with a milkshake during a campaign walkabout in Newcastle in 2019. Pic: PA
It is not the first time Mr Farage has had a milkshake thrown at him.
In May 2019, Paul Crowther, from Newcastle, doused the then-Brexit Party leader with a £5.25 banana and salted caramel milkshake from burger chain Five Guys during a Newcastle city centre walkabout ahead of the European elections.
He was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage, and was ordered to pay Mr Farage £350 in compensation to have his suit cleaned after the “politically motivated attack”.
The other candidates vying to become MP for Clacton are:
- Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour;
- Giles Watling, Conservatives;
- Natasha Osben, Greens;
- Matthew Bensilum, Lib Dems.
