Nigel Farage faced criticism for his recent absence in requesting questions during the weekly PMQs sessions. The leader of Reform UK made a dramatic entrance to the public gallery during this week’s PMQs, expressing frustration at being targeted by the Prime Minister and Labour MPs without the opportunity to respond.
In a statement, Farage highlighted the lack of a platform for him to reply to the attacks he faces during PMQs. However, it was revealed that his absence from questioning was due to his failure to submit requests. As the head of a minor party, Farage is assigned questions on a rotational basis alongside other smaller parties like the Greens and Plaid Cymru.
While he is entitled to participate in the lottery system known as the “shuffle” to secure a question each week, records from Parliament show that Farage last entered the shuffle before a PMQs session on July 9th. Since then, there have been five PMQs sessions where he could have potentially posed a question.
Each week, 15 MPs are randomly selected through the “shuffle,” including party leaders such as Farage, Kemi Badenoch, and Ed Davey. Commenting on Farage’s actions, Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain criticized his approach, labeling it as avoidance rather than engagement in his duties.
Reform UK has raised concerns about the limited number of questions allocated to Farage this year, stating that he is not scheduled for a “minor party” question until November and has only received six questions so far. The frequency of Farage’s participation in the shuffle before July remains unclear.