Nigel Farage branded ‘MP for Washington’ after 1 / 4 of speeches parrot Trump

EXCLUSIVE: Reform UK’s leader brought up Donald Trump’s bugbears ten times, while he only mentioned Clacton six times in two years

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Nigel Farage has been branded the “MP for Washington” after spending one in four of his Commons speeches parroting Donald Trump’s attacks on Britain.

Analysis by DeSmog found the Reform UK leader raised the Chagos Islands deal – one of Trump’s pet grievances – in a quarter of his speeches to Parliament before standing down as an MP in July.

Farage slammed the agreement, which would have seen the UK hand control of the islands to Mauritius, in 10 of his 40 speeches.

Many of his remarks on the Chagos deal echoed attacks made by Trump, whose opposition helped derail the deal earlier this year.

After returning from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December 2024, Farage told MPs that senior figures in the incoming US administration had expressed “deep disquiet” over Britain’s plans.

He later warned the agreement could destroy hopes of a UK-US trade deal, claiming Britain’s chances of avoiding American tariffs would “evaporate”.

Farage also praised Trump twice more in the Commons, boasting of his close relationship with the president in February 2025. “I think I am in a fortunate position. It is not just that for 10 years I have stood up and defended President Trump – I was very much on my own in those days – but that I know half his Cabinet,” he said.

By contrast, Farage spoke just once about winter fuel payments, once about the Budget and once about energy policy – despite Reform repeatedly claiming the cost of living is one of voters’ biggest concerns.

“Seeing how often Farage has voiced views that line up perfectly with Trump’s interests, you might think he was the MP for Washington DC, not Clacton-on-Sea, said Graeme McGregor, campaign manager for the Good Law Project.

“He ought to spend more time focusing on issues that matter to people in Clacton, rather than his pastimes of grandstanding, jet-setting and schmoozing.”

The findings come after DeSmog revealed Farage mentioned his Clacton constituency just six times in Parliament over two years while earning £2.3 million from work outside Westminster.

Farage resigned as Clacton’s MP last month amid a parliamentary standards investigation into an undeclared £5 million gift from billionaire crypto donor Christopher Harborne.

Harborne has also contributed to Farage’s Chagos campaigning – paying £25,000 for a private jet flight in February for the Reform leader to launch an unsuccessful attempt to reach the islands.

Farage is standing in next week’s by-election, which he has billed as a showdown with “the establishment”. His main opponent is Count Binface, a comedy candidate, after all the main parties refused to stand in the contest.

The parliamentary investigation is expected to resume, if Farage wins re-election.