Nigel Farage blamed ‘staff incompetence’ for a Reform UK event in London taking place in front of swathes of empty seats.
On Monday, Reform held an event in Westminster on Monday afternoon where Farage delivered a ‘Teal budget book’, ahead of the actual budget taking place on Wednesday.
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The only problem was there weren’t many people in the room to see it.
The Mail reported that the hall was ‘half-empty,’ something that was addressed by a miffed Farage.
He told the few people in attendance: “As for this hall, well, staff incompetence.
“It’s all well and good advertising to businesses but, on Mondays, people who run businesses tend to be rather busy.
“No doubt many of those that are here, it’s going to cost them a very great deal of money to have given up their day to come and visit us here in London.”
Another Reform UK blinder!
Footage from journalists in attendance showed just how empty the hall was.
The awkward Reform event comes after another dreadful week for the party that has seen them continue to fall further behind Labour in the polls.
Polling from the weekend found that Reform now trail Labour by a huge 12-point margin – just a year on from them having a 12-point lead over Labour.
Scandal after scandal has followed Farage, who pre-emptively called a by-election in Clacton in the wake of a Parliamentary standards investigation into an undeclared £5 million donation. The findings from this probe are due to be made public soon – and may trigger another by-election.
The litany of former Tories who are front, line and centre of Reform’s promises to change the country has also served to undermine their position as an ‘anti-establishment party’, and over time, voters have been turned off by controversial policies and confusing proposals.
Addressing Reform’s polling struggles, Farage said: “Markets are volatile. Markets go up, markets go down. We’ve had a difficult summer, of that there is no doubt. But are we optimistic – yeah.
“A lot of our voters are just sitting back on their heels at the moment. Our job is to energise them and get them back.”