Nigel Farage laughs off McDonald's milkshake stunt as election rivals condemn 'assault' and two suspects arrested

4 June 2024, 18:04

Nigel Farage has responded defiantly to having a milkshake thrown in his face outside a pub following an election rally.

The stunt took place outside the Moon and Starfish pub in the Essex town of Clacton, where Mr Farage launched his election campaign on Tuesday.

A woman stepped forward from the crowd and hurled a McDonald's banana milkshake at the Reform UK leader.

A few hours after the incident, Mr Farage posted a video of himself on Twitter holding a McDonald's milkshake saying: "My milkshake brings all the people to the rally".

Essex Police said a 25-year-old woman from Clacton had been arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault after the drama unfolded in front of hundreds of Mr Farage's supporters.

A man was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, police said. They were both being questioned this afternoon.

The Reform UK leader Mr Farage had earlier addressed a crowd of hundreds in the seaside town following an announcement on Monday that he plans to run as an MP.

Richard Tice, Nigel Farage's predecessor as Reform UK leader, said: "The juvenile moron who threw a drink over Nigel has just gained us hundreds of thousands more votes.

"We will not be bullied or threatened off the campaign trail."

The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, described the "assault" on Farage as "unacceptable, just as it would be for any candidate.

"There is no excuse to resort to behaviour like this. We may disagree, but we debate, and then we vote.

"That’s democracy," he added.

A woman, who gave her name only as Victoria, said: "He doesn't stand for me, he doesn't represent anything I believe in, or any of the people around here.

"He doesn't represent us, he's not from here."

Some people applauded after the drink was thrown while others reacted angrily.

Giles Watling, the former Clacton MP who is running to be the Conservative candidate, also tweeted: "I'm sorry to hear Nigel Farage has had drinks thrown at him in Clacton-on-Sea today - we may disagree, but every candidate has the right to campaign without fear of violence or intimidation!"

Prior to the milkshake incident, Mr Farage spoke to a crowd at Clacton Pier. Shouts from the crowd included "get 'em Nige" and "we love you Nigel".

Mr Farage - who appeared alongside the ex-leader of Reform UK Richard Tice - said he would be a "bloody nuisance" in Westminster if he succeeds in becoming an MP at his eighth attempt.

Mr Farage U-turned on his previous suggestion he would not stand in this General Election, opting to fight in Clacton and being installed as Reform leader in place of Richard Tice.

On Tuesday, he said he would be a "bloody nuisance" in Westminster if he succeeds in becoming an MP at his eighth attempt.

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It is not the first time Mr Farage has been hit by a milkshake while on the campaign trail.

He had a drink thrown over him during a European elections walkabout in Newcastle in 2019.

Paul Crowther was ordered to pay Mr Farage compensation after he pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage.

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Earlier today Mr Farage appeared on LBC where he described how he was trying to appeal to younger voters.

He told Nick Ferrari that he was getting approached by people who recognised him from his TikToks.

“TikTok, which I’ve been doing for a lot longer than the Labour and Conservative parties,  I get millions and millions of views every month.

“I walked into a restaurant last night, a curry house. There was a husband and wife, couple of kids probably about 10, 12.

“He says mummy, look - it’s the TikTok bloke. A lot of young people of this Generation Z are rejecting the indoctrination at school and saying to hell with it we want to work hard, we want to get on with it.“

‘We want to make money, we want to have a house’ but the world they’re living in is making it very hard for them.”

Read more: Nigel Farage vows to be 'voice of opposition' to Labour as he announces he will stand for Reform at General Election

The former UKIP leader made his candidacy announcement at a press conference in south-east London on Monday afternoon, saying he wants to lead a "political revolt".

The 58-year-old has tried to become an MP on seven occasions between 1994 and 2015.

Most recently he was defeated in the 2015 general election for the seat of South Thanet in Kent by Conservative opponent Craig Mackinlay.

The following candidates will be standing in Clacton-on-Sea:

• Matthew Bensilum (Liberal Democrats)
• Nigel Farage (Reform UK)
• Natasha Osben (Green)
• Jovan Owusu-Nepaul (Labour)
• Giles Watling (Conservative)

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On Monday, he told LBC's Natasha Clark that the election was already over, but that he wanted to be a "voice of opposition" to a presumed future Labour government.

"Labour have won, the Tories will probably hate each other even more in opposition than they do in government," he said.

"And we're going to be a very clear voice of opposition for those who don't like what is offered by the London metropolitan elite.

"The Conservatives have suggested in response that voting for Reform amounts to supporting Labour.Mr Farage had previously said he would not stand, announcing that he would focus on campaigning for Donald Trump in the US instead.

But he said on Monday: "I just realised there are millions of people out there that wanted me to do this, and if I didn't do it, they will feel very let down.

"So I'm going to do it. And you know what, we're going to get a huge number of votes, we're going to get seats in Parliament.

And the ambition is to be the voice of opposition to a big Labour majority."

A YouGov poll released on Monday afternoon showed that Reform could have no MPs after the election, although the fieldwork was done before Mr Farage announced his candidacy. He said his announcement would change the results of the poll.

Mr Farage also said he would take part in a leaders' debate on Friday.

Read more: General Election LIVE: Labour and Conservatives launch election ‘battle’ buses as campaign enters second weekend

Nigel Farage enters election race as he announces he will stand in Clacton