A TOP Reform MP was left seething as he was contradicted on Nigel Farage’s reasons for snubbing the announcement of his by-election win.
Richard Tice repeatedly insisted that the Reform UK leader’s security team had judged it unsafe for him to attend the event, despite Farage previously saying he would be “demeaned and humiliated” if he went.
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Friday morning, Tice was confronted by comments from Essex Police – charged with ensuring the safety of the count in Clacton – which appeared to contradict Farage’s claim that going would be unsafe.
Asked what the police had advised, Tice said: “I don’t know what the official guidance was, the point is Nick, ultimately it’s not the police who decide as to whether or not Nigel is kept safe. It is his security team, they are tasked with keeping him safe and secure, and bluntly, alive and I respect their judgment in preference to anybody else’s judgment.”
Absolute car crash interview from an irascible Richard Tice on @LBC being interviewed by @NickFerrariLBC Tice manages to insult Essex Police and the electorate in one interview pic.twitter.com/nW6rvKOZg5
— teresa smith (@treesey) August 14, 2026
He said it was “lovely if they did, good for them”, when pressed on whether he preferred the judgment of Farage’s security detail over the police assessment, adding: “Ultimately, it’s Nigel’s team who are tasked with keeping him safe, secure and alive.”
Ferrari hit back, bringing up Farage’s comments after declaring victory and saying he would sidestep the event, which was attended by his main rival, the novelty candidate Count Binface.
The LBC host said: “Is it because he didn’t want to be demeaned and humiliated, as he said, or you’re now telling us, it’s his security team who overrode Essex Police? Which is it?”
Tice reiterated his point about trusting Farage’s security team “above everybody else”, to which Ferrari replied: “So the suggestion he could be demeaned and humiliated is nonsensical?”
The Reform MP, the party’s deputy leader, snapped: “If you’re going to ask me a question, do me the courtesy of letting me answer it. I’ve just told you: I trust Nigel’s security team to keep him safe, secure and alive.”
Ferrari pressed again on the “demeaned and humiliated” comment, pointing out that Andy Burnham, who Binface ran against in Makerfield earlier this year, had attended the count, saying: “With respect, I’m talking about the point of being demeaned and humiliated.
“So the man who went on to be Prime Minister [Burnham] is happy to share a stage with a candidate, a rival dressed as a dustbin, but Nigel Farage is not because he would be demeaned and humiliated? That’s a strange look, isn’t it, from a man presumably wants to be prime minister?”
Tice replied: “Uh, he does want to be prime minister but to do that, you have to be safe, secure and alive and bluntly, that is the important thing.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK Scotland's deputy leader Thomas Kerr insisted the mainstream parties which boycotted Farage's election stunt did so because they were afraid.
The former Tory councillor told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast on Friday: “There was not a Labour candidate, there wasn’t a Conservative candidate, wasn’t a Green candidate, wasn’t a Lib Dem candidate, wasn’t a Restore candidate, because every single one of them were feart to stand up against Nigel Farage.”
Elsewhere, Reform MP Lee Anderson appeared to suggest the police were dishonest as he was confronted on Farage’s no-show.
Saying that “sometimes some of these police forces that we’ve been dealing with recently are about as honest as you lot at the BBC”, Anderson added: “If Nigel gets up on stage and says that he’s been advised not to attend the event, then I believe Nigel above the police, and especially above you lot at the BBC.”
A spokesperson for Essex Police said: “The decision of candidates to attend or not attend the election count is a decision for individuals and their security teams, our role is to make sure our policing operation is sufficiently robust to ensure the safety of all.”
