Like many cornerstones of British culture, Nigel Farage’s milkshake-gate was immortalised during an election campaign.
Eclipsing the Portillo moment, in June 2024 the now MP for Clacton-On-Sea had the contents of a banana-yellow milkshake emptied on his balding head on the steps of a Wetherspoons in his own back-yard.
I went to the very same pub, Essex’s Moon and Starfish, to see if the humiliating moment lingers in the local psyche.
“We like Nigel”, smiled Amber, 18, who was on her way out of the pub. Remembering the day Victoria Thomas-Bowen threw a McDonald’s milkshake over the Reform UK leader, she told The Mirror, “My mum wasn’t too happy. We like him in our family. It’s not a very nice thing to happen to him is it? The thing I like about him is he can take a joke. He turned it all into a thing- which I think is nice.”
The MP worth £3.2million, who is famously absent from his constituency, bemoaned Bowen’s suspended 13-week jail term for 12 months as an “example of two-tier justice” when the model admitted assault by beating. Farage added: “We now live in a country where you can assault a Member of Parliament and not go to prison.”
Considering it is 2pm on a Tuesday, the pub is packed-out. A gaggle of poppy-wearing smokers have congregated outside and one man in a tweed suit stands, hands on hips, surveying the promenade, reports The Mirror.
He issues a territorial fleeting look at my friend Pierre and I as we timidly make our way up the, some would say iconic, steps to the entrance. The low-ceilinged boozer is adorned with a once-luxurious crimson carpet and boasts surprisingly stunning vistas of the brilliant yet overcast heavens beyond the abandoned jetty.
For £3.70 I secure myself a pint of Guinness, whilst Pierre buys a burger which immediately raises my concerns. Remarkably, despite approaching the bar independently, the barman instinctively realised I was here with Pierre – correctly assuming my table number matched his.
From the way we were looked at – locals appeared to know we weren’t one of them. One man was dressed as though the 80s had never ended, sporting yellowed-beige trousers and a v-neck vest.
He also appeared to believe he was still living in 1982 as he attempted to direct metowards the bar. He mumbled, “it’s your go now – you can order”, which made sense as in his world women were only allowed in pubs a few years previously.
Returning from the bathroom, I discovered Pierre being confronted by a man who had his hand trapped in a handshake. “I’ve always wanted hair like yours, son”, he informed a visibly anxious Pierre before abruptly leaving – spinning round, fist raised, proclaiming, “You’re a viking.”
We made a dash for the door.
Strolling down to the pier we met Anya, 20, who worked at the white-washed food stall. Anya was working there the exact day Farage was milkshaked. She said: “There was a lot of shouting and screaming and running around”, she says, but the broader significance of the incident doesn’t captivate her. “I don’t really pay any attention to any of that and it all goes over my head. I just try to get on with my life.”
Perhaps the milkshake incident is less significant for the residents of Clacton and more so for those fixated on the town’s support for Reform UK. Or, for Bowen-Thomas who was instructed to compensate the millionaire MP £150, carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and cover £450 in court costs.
On our return journey, as St George’s flags give way to high-rise flats and flyovers, Pierre’s meal leads him to vow that he will “never going to buy food again from Wetherspoons.”
That is “unless it’s breakfast.”
Luckily for Farage, Wetherspoons has no intention of bringing back its banana milkshake, meaning actors like Bowen-Thomas will still need to head to McDonald’s, if they wish.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
