It’s been a funny old time for Nigel Farage in parliament. Elected to the House of Commons at his eighth attempt, the Reform leader has had to adapt to the weird and world of Westminster’s traditions. But in a parliament where you’re just five of the 650 MPs overall, getting barracked on all sides isn’t always much fun. One particular irritation is Prime Ministers’ Questions (PMQs) on a Wednesday when various Labour MPs get up to attack Reform, with no right of reply for Farage. For despite his commanding lead in the polls, the Reform leader rarely gets to speak at PMQs, with his next scheduled appearance not due until the middle of next month. Talk about the House always wins…
So to protest this ongoing injustice, Farage has decided to try an innovative stunt. He plans to spend today’s PMQs session in the public gallery, watching – voiceless – the shenanigans of the MPs below. It’s a novel approach that nevertheless has a nice symbolism for Farage and his ‘parliament versus the people’ shtick. Steerpike hears the Reform leader will do this every week to protest the fact that he is constantly attacked by parliamentarians and yet the Speaker never calls him.
At least it’s one way to help stop Kemi from getting the headlines, eh?
Comments