Nigel Farage has been accused of “playing the victim” with his Prime Minister’s Questions strike after it was revealed that the Reform UK leader has not applied for a question in months.
The Clacton MP opted not to take his seat in the House of Commons during the weekly despatch box bout, with Mr Farage instead sitting alongside long-time ally Arron Banks in the public gallery.
He wrote on X: “Every week at PMQs I am attacked by the PM and Labour MPs, but have no right of reply. I am just a mere spectator. So I have decided to spectate from the public gallery today instead.”
As leader of a minor party, Mr Farage is allowed to ask questions on a rota system, alongside other party leaders with few MPs in the Commons, such as the Greens and Plaid Cymru.
If the Reform UK leader wanted to ask additional questions, as an MP, he could enter the “shuffle”, a lottery where members of the Commons submit bids to ask questions.
Mr Farage last entered this ahead of the PMQs session on July 9, nearly four months ago, according to parliamentary records.
Despite the summer recess, a break when the House of Commons and the House of Lords do not meet, there have been five sessions of PMQs since then.
Around 15 MPs are selected from the “shuffle” each week.
Nigel Farage has been accused of ‘playing the victim’ with his Prime Minister’s Questions strike
|
PA
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “This is classic Farage, all grievance and no graft. He’d rather play the victim instead of doing his job.
“He apparently doesn’t have any questions for the Prime Minister, but I suspect the people of Clacton have some questions for him.”
The records do not show how many times Mr Farage applied for the shuffle before his entry in July.
Under standard parliamentary procedure, Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch gets to ask Sir Keir Starmer six questions a week.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey gets to ask two questions as the leader of the third largest party.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been forced to interject during Nigel Farage’s speeches on three occasions due to heckling
|
House of Commons Handout photo issued by the House of Commons of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions
The Reform UK leader is not due a “minor party” question until November, sparking complaints from his own party.
He has only been granted six questions since the 2024 General Election.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has been forced to interject during Mr Farage’s speeches on three occasions due to heckling.
The Speaker intervened twice on February 5 when Mr Farage slapped down an attack on Reform UK’s NHS policy.
Between January 8 and October 22, the Prime Minister has landed blows against Mr Farage at 18 PMQs
|
PA
Between January 8 and October 22, the Prime Minister has landed blows against Mr Farage at 18 PMQs.
Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner also attacked Mr Farage during her stand-in appearance on June 18, which the Reform UK leader argues he cannot reply to.
Former Conservative MP Alex Stafford, who served as the MP for Rother Valley from 2019 to 2024, told GB News: “The more MPs they get, more likelihood they’re going to get called.
He added: “The speaker is quite fair, if you go to the speaker and say, ‘I want to raise a particular issue’, for instance, Nigel could say ‘I’ve been maligned in Parliament’ and the Speaker generally then will try and call that MP to raise the question.”
GB News contacted Reform UK for a comment.