Nigel Farage has milkshake thrown over him after launching general election campaign

Nigel Farage has had a McDonalds milkshake thrown over him after launching his campaign for the general election.

A young woman approached the new Reform UK leader on the steps of a pub in Clacton before hurling the yellow-coloured drink over him.

She then smiled and casually walked away, with some onlookers applauding, as Mr Farage headed towards his campaign bus. It is not the first time Mr Farage has been hit with milkshakes by critics, having been similarly targeted in Newcastle in 2019.

Richard Tice, Mr Farage’s predecessor as Reform UK leader, expressed his anger at the incident, adding: “The juvenile moron who threw a drink over Nigel has just gained us hundreds of thousands more votes. We will not be bullied or threatened off the campaign trail.”

A member of staff at the Wetherspoons where the incident occurred suggested the thrower could have been lying in wait for the politician to arrive for an hour.

The Moon & Starfish worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Independent three police officers had just come into the pub looking for the woman who threw what is believed to be a banana-flavoured milkshake.

He said: “I saw liquid fly through the air and hit a few customers.”

Mr Farage had kicked off his general election campaign in the seaside town earlier on Tuesday, as he promised to be a “bloody nuisance” in Westminster.

He set out his goal for Reform UK to effectively take over the Conservative Party – and potentially put him in No 10 in future.

Shouts from the crowd included “get ‘em Nige” and “we love you Nigel”. He told those gathered: “Send me to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”

But Mr Farage did not have to go to Westminster to stir up chaos, as his supporters clashed with protestors over a sign that said: “Farage not welcome in Clacton”.

He said he would be a “champion” for Clacton, which he described as a “forgotten, end-of-the-line town”.

“I had to decide, do I want to stand as a Member of Parliament and spend every Friday working in Clacton? Huge decision for me, huge decision for me, I’ve decided, I do,” Mr Farage said.

“They supported me hugely in the Brexit referendum campaign, and they want someone to stand up for their beliefs, and they don’t see that in today’s Conservative Party, they certainly don’t see that in today’s Labour Party.

“I will be their champion on the national issues and on the local issues, having a national figure representing a forgotten, end-of-the-line town, who knows I may well be able to bring some investment and do some good.”

Reform UK has zeroed in on high immigration and Brexit as a key issue on which to challenge the Conservative Party.

Speaking earlier at the rally, Mr Farage said: “We made an offer to the British people, we could get back our independence and control of our borders.

“But what has happened? The Conservatives have betrayed that trust. They’ve opened up the borders to mass immigration like we’ve never seen before. And they deserve to pay a price for that, a big price for that.”

• On Tuesday afternoon, police issued a statement saying a 25-year-old woman, from Clacton, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault. While officers were responding and making this arrest, a second individual, a man, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, a spokesperson added.