Politics
Nigel Farage ‘living his best life’ in Clacton after questions over his whereabouts
Nigel Farage has announced that he has paid a visit to Clacton following criticism that he does not spend enough time in his constituency.
The Reform UK leader shared an image of himself on X alongside the caption: “I would like all my haters to know that I am once again in Clacton living my best life.”
It is not clear where he was visiting or if he met constituents, as his team declined to provide further information to Sky News.
Mr Farage was elected to the Essex seat at the July general election but has since faced accusations he has not spent much time there amid trips abroad to the US.
Asked about the issue in an interview with Sky News last week, he said: “I’ve just exchanged contracts on the house that I’ll be living there in, is that good enough?”
He said that while he was elected to represent Clacton he is “also leading a national political party”, so he has more commitments to juggle than a typical backbench MP.
A source close to him later said he had been in Clacton 10 times since the general election, and that he “has kept his promise to have a property in the constituency, writes a weekly column for the Clacton Gazette… and is having two further visits next week”.
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‘Mr Farage, are you spending enough time in Clacton?’
Mr Farage is a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump and has been ridiculed by Sir Keir Starmer for making trips to America since being elected to parliament.
The matter was brought up during an exchange at PMQs on Wednesday, when Mr Farage suggested the prime minister “mend some fences between this government” and Mr Trump, accusing the cabinet of being “so rude about him over the last few years”.
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Sir Keir replied: “Well I’m glad to see the right honourable member making a rare appearance back here in Britain. He’s spent so much time in America recently, I was half expecting to see him on the immigration statistics.
“He may have missed that I did congratulate the incoming president last week.”
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Questions about Mr Farage’s whereabouts were also raised after he claimed he was advised by the House of Commons’ Speaker’s office not to hold in-person surgeries over fears for his safety.
A source at the Speaker’s Office told Sky News at the time they had no record of giving Mr Farage these instructions, and the former UKIP leader later backtracked on the remarks, saying: “The Speaker’s Office is always right.”