Nigel Farage has drink thrown over him after launching election campaign in Clacton

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-on-Sea, 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.

Essex Police said they had arrested a 25-year-old woman from Clacton after responding to a report of a drink being thrown at a man in Marine Parade East at around 2.10pm.

As officers were arresting the women, a second person, a man, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.

“Both individuals remain in custody for questioning,” a police spokesman said.

Just a few hours before the incident, Mr Farage 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.

Mr Farage told supporters at his launch the Conservatives have breached the British people’s trust as “they’ve opened up the borders to mass immigration like we’ve never seen before”.

He told them that means “they are finished, they are done” and argued he needs to be in Westminster to push for change in a Labour government.

A new YouGov poll for Sky News has Labour winning the election with 42.9% of the vote while Reform is set to take 10.1% – an increase of 8.1% on 2019.

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.”

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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”.

Read more:
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Mr Farage is no stranger to being pelted with food or drink – it is not even the first time he 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”.

In 2014, Mr Farage, then leader of UKIP, had an egg thrown at him by a protester during a campaign visit to Nottingham.

Read more on the election:
General Election poll tracker
Warning over risk of audio deepfakes that could derail election
Tories could tumble but there’s no mad enthusiasm for Labour

The other candidates vying to become MP for Clacton are:

• Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour;
• Giles Watling, Conservatives;
• Natasha Osben, Greens;
• Matthew Bensilum, Lib Dems.