Woman, 25, charged after milkshake thrown at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at Clacton campaign event

A 25-year-old woman has been charged after a milkshake was thrown at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage following a campaign event in Clacton.

Mr Farage was hit with the drink as he left the Moon and Starfish pub in the Essex town on Tuesday.

Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, has been charged with assault by beating and criminal damage following the incident, said Essex Police.

She will appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 2 July.

A 44-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker has been released and will face no further action.

Mr Farage later appeared to make light of the incident, posing with a tray of milkshakes at a later campaign stop, but told ITV News it had been "scary".

He had been in the seaside town to launch his campaign, addressing a crowd of hundreds near the town's pier and pledging to be "a bloody nuisance" in Westminster.

He was seen with the yellow drink splattered across his dark blue suit as he boarded his campaign bus.

Essex Police said in a statement: “The charges relate to an incident in which a drink was thrown at a man in the area of Marine Parade East, Clacton, at around 2.10pm on Tuesday.”

In a clip shared online, Mr Farage later joked about the incident, raising a McDonald’s milkshake in his hand and saying “My milkshake brings all the people to the rally”.

In 2019, he had a £5.25 Five Guys banana and salted caramel milkshake thrown at him during a campaign walkabout in Newcastle.

“Milkshaking” – the act of dousing public figures in milkshake – was officially recognised by Collins Dictionary the same year.

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