Nigel Farage accused of handing over Reform competition prize to couple he has already been pictured with
Nigel Farage’s controversial energy bills challenge has come under renewed scrutiny after he was accused of awarding the prize to a couple he had previously been photographed with.
The Reform UK leader announced the winner of the competition on Thursday, telling June from Wigan that the party would pay the entire street’s energy bills for a year.
In a video posted on social media, Mr Farage was seen handing flowers to the couple in the foyer, while the party’s treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick held a giant cheque.
Wigan’s local Reform UK branch later posted the news on Facebook, congratulating “loyal” branch members on their win.
But soon after, social media users claimed Mr Farage already knew the pair and a photo resurfaced showing him standing behind the couple at a 2019 Brexit Party event.
The party is understood to have complied with the legal requirements of the competition, with a draw in which June was randomly selected as the winner.
However, the Conservative Party accused Reform of “trying to hoodwink people”; Kemi Badenoch reposted a post featuring the photo on X with the caption: “Must be so weird acting like they’ve never met.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “How strange that Nigel has to pretend he has never met these leading members of his Party before.
“This gradual interaction is not the first time Reformation has tried to hoodwink people.”
Reform UK launched the challenge last month, promising to pay a street’s energy bills for a year.
Announcing the draw, Mr Jenrick told a press conference in London: “We will be drawing one of these names in the next week or two and Nigel [Farage] “It will come to your house and pay your energy bills and those of everyone else living on your street for a year.”
The contest has sparked calls for the information watchdog to investigate, with rivals being asked questions such as who they voted for in the last general election and who they plan to support in the next election.
In a video published on X on Thursday, Mr Farage could be seen handing the couple a large check for £1,758 as they opened the door to their red-brick home in Wigan.
At the launch of Reform’s local election campaign slogan the next day, Mr Farage also said he was “not the slightest bit concerned” about his party breaching election rules.
Reform UK said this has been approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
