Nigel Farage booed by Reform supporters over embarrassing gaffe during speech

Nigel Farage was booed during a speech to Reform supporters yesterday after he confused Portsmouth and Plymouth.

The Reform leader accidentally told a crowd of Reform supporters that he was in Portsmouth, rather than Plymouth. 

Farage was trying to outline his plan to “fix Britain in the first 100 days” of a hypothetical Reform government when he made the gaffe.

In the middle of his speech, Farage said: “Yes I do want to talk about Brexit. Plymouth voted clearly, decisively for Brexit by a higher margin than the rest of the country.”

The party leader added: “One of the sensible beliefs we had was that we would start to get back control of our territorial waters”. 

He then said: “There is a big fishing fleet here in Portsmouth…”, which was met with boos from the crowd.

Some supporters were heard shouting “You’re in Plymouth.”

Farage scrambled to correct himself, stating: “Sorry, did I say – Plymouth, sorry. It’s very small in Portsmouth.”

While Plymouth and Portsmouth are both port cities on the South coast and are areas which voted to leave the European Union, they are 170 miles apart.

In another embarrassing moment during the rally, Reform MP Robert Jenrick asked members of the crowd to stand up if they work, and only a handful of people did. 

Reform’s standing in the polls has declined in recent months as the party has been dogged by successive scandals. 

Last month, an undercover investigation by Verbatim for Channel 4 showed Farage and other senior Reform figures plotting about how an American donor could give money to the party.

Last week, an ITV investigation showed Reform councillors making sexist and racist remarks. 

Photo credit: Reform

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward