The establishment blocked me from laying wreath at Cenotaph, claims Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage: ‘I personally am not complaining but other people are’ - Chris Jackson/Reuters

Nigel Farage has claimed “the establishment” blocked him from laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday alongside other party leaders.

The Reform UK leader said the party was told it could not lay a wreath as it only has five MPs, and a party must have at least six MPs to be able to take part in that aspect of the ceremony.

Sir Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn all laid wreaths in Westminster on Sunday.

Mr Farage, along with Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party, instead watched the proceedings from a balcony.

Gavin Robinson, the leader of the DUP, had a public-facing role in the ceremony as he also laid a wreath despite his party only having five MPs.

Government sources later pointed to an addendum to the 1984 protocol, which stipulates that “the party with the most sitting MPs from each of the devolved nations should be given the opportunity to lay a wreath” even if the party has fewer than six seats.

The Speaker, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Northern Ireland Office, the Chief Whip and the Royal Household have all agreed to the change.

‘Reform will have enough MPs’

Plaid Cymru and the SNP have a separate agreement, in place since 2001, where they have a joint wreath and take it in turns to lay it on alternate years.

Nigel Farage told GB News that after the next election Reform will have enough MPs for him to take part.

He said: “I personally am not complaining but other people are.”

Richard Tice, the deputy leader, called it a “shameful stitch-up”, writing on X: “We got more votes than Lib Dems, SNP and DUP combined, yet they all laid wreaths.”

Meanwhile, the Government appears to have turned down Mr Farage’s offer to act as an intermediary between the UK and US in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.

Asked whether Downing Street would take up his offer Darren Jones, a Treasury minister, said: “I think that’s probably unlikely.

“My advice to Mr Farage would be he might want to concentrate his efforts on the constituency in Clacton that elected him into office, as opposed to spending his time in the United States of America.”