Nigel Farage says seating dispute led him to skip Commons budget

Nigel Farage missed Chancellor John Healey’s budget speech in the House of Commons on 28 October, saying he feared a confrontation with another MP over seating. The Guardian reported that the Reform UK leader gave his explanation at a Westminster press conference after the speech.

Farage said a prayer card reserving a seat had been removed. He claimed that he had become involved in a physical altercation with an MP in the chamber at the state opening of Parliament and believed another confrontation was possible. He declined to name the MP, the Mirror reported. The circumstances of the alleged earlier incident have not been independently established.

Why Farage said he stayed away

Healey began his speech just after 12.30pm, following Prime Minister’s Questions, according to the Standard. Farage’s explanation came later at his press conference, where he described the possible confrontation as one reason for staying away from the chamber.

Commons explains the prayer-card removal

A House of Commons spokesperson told the Mirror that a prayer card placed on a seat that day did not display a valid date stamp and was removed under the chamber’s usual procedure. Members use dated prayer cards to reserve seats. The spokesperson did not identify whose card was removed, leaving its connection to Farage’s account unclear.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns challenged Farage’s seating explanation, saying Reform UK MPs could have given him their seats and that unreserved seats were available. Liberal Democrat MP Tim Gordon also disputed it, saying he had not put in a prayer card himself and had seen spaces. Their comments contested Farage’s reason for missing the speech; neither established the circumstances of his alleged earlier encounter.