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Nigel Farage booed by Reform supporters after major gaffe

Published 17:22 20 Oct 2026 BST

Updated 17:22 20 Oct 2026 BST

Charlie Herbert
Nigel Farage booed by Reform supporters after major gaffe

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This didn't go down well.

Nigel Farage was booed by his own party members after dropping a clanger during a speech.

On Tuesday, the Reform UK was speaking at an event in Plymouth as part of his 100 Days to Save Britain’ tour.

During his speech, Farage mentioned Plymouth’s fishing industry, referencing Brexit-era claims that the UK would “get back control of our territorial waters” from overseas fishermen.

But the Clacton MP suffered an unfortunate slip of the tongue when he instead of saying Plymouth, he said Portsmouth.

Farage told Reform members in attendance: “I do want to talk about Brexit. Plymouth voted clearly, decisively for Brexit by a higher margin than the rest of the country.

“And one of the things, one of the sensible beliefs that we had is we’d start to get back control of our territorial waters.”

He then said: “There is a big fishing fleet here in Portsmouth.”

As boos and jeers rained down from those in attendance, Farage apologised for his error, adding the Portsmouth’s fishing fleet was “very small.”

Despite the 170-odd mile distance between Plymouth and Portsmouth, the two coastal cities are no fans of each other.

For years, Plymouth and Portsmouth have competed as England’s two main naval bases and their football clubs contest what is often referred to as the ‘Dockyard Derby.’

Farage might want to brush up on where exactly he is the next time he makes a visit to the south coast.

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