Farage abandoned his visit to Felixstowe after about 20 minutes..
Nigel Farage cancelled a walkabout in Felixstowe, Suffolk yesterday after getting heckled by a small group of peaceful protestors.
A Reform spokesperson said that Farage was scheduled to do a walkabout along the seafront in Felixstowe as part of the party’s local elections campaign launch in Suffolk yesterday.
However, it was called off following security advice.
A group of around 20 protestors waved placards bearing messages such as “Nigel Farage will say anything for money. What will he do for his billionaire friends?”.
Another read: “Farage is a fraud”.
One protestor called out: “Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen for the fascist freak show.”
According to the East Anglian Times, Farage, who was surrounded by bodyguards, abandoned the visit after around 20 minutes in the town.
Instead of visiting local businesses as planned, Farage escaped into a black Volvo to Trinity Park where Reform held a rally.
Local elections will be held across 136 councils, including Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council on 7 May.
Sarah Fitch, one of the protesters, said that many were unhappy with how Reform had behaved in a recent town council by-election.
She said: “Reform won on our town council and they played a very dirty campaign.
“They were unkind to one of our town councillors and I thought ‘they are not welcome here.’
“We want it to be a pleasant place, so we thought ‘we don’t want Nigel Farage here, we just don’t want him.’
As part of the launch, Farage went to Ipswich Town Football Club at Portman Road, where he was pictured ‘signing’ with the club and holding a No 10 shirt with ‘Farage’ on it.
In response, some Ipswich Town Football Club supporters expressed feeling ‘disgusted and embarrassed’ that Farage had been able to use the club for a PR stunt.
However, it is understood that the football club may not have been involved in the PR event, and that Reform UK took the photos during a private tour of the stadium.
Reform and Ipswich Town Football Club have been contacted for comment.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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