A GB News correspondent found himself stranded on a fairground ferris wheel last night as he reported on Nigel Farage’s election victory in Clacton.
Footage shows journalist Christopher Hope stranded on the ride during the Reform leader’s ‘Farage Fest’, hosted in the seaside town to celebrate the by-election result.
The fairground attraction gradually speeds up as Mr Hope delivers his live broadcast, before coming to an abrupt stop.
He tells GB News host Patrick Christys: “I’m stuck now, Patrick, it’s stopped”.
“I’m a married man, I’ve got three children and a wife, this is not in my contract,” the veteran political journalist joked.
Mr Farage was also in attendance at Farage Fest, opting to host the celebration instead of attending the count at the local leisure centre.
He claimed that he did not attend as Essex Police had warned him of a “credible threat” to his safety. The force has contested the claim.
Mr Farage also told reporters: “I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory… and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.”
The Reform UK leader won the Clacton by-election that he triggered last month with a boosted vote share of 63 per cent and just over 1,000 more votes.
Count Binface, his main rival, came second with 27 per cent of the vote – a record at a parliamentary election for a joke candidate.
All other major parties refused to stand in the contest, which Mr Farage’s political opponents argue was launched to distract from the parliamentary standards investigation into an undeclared £5 million crypto donation and other financial interests.
Parliamentary commissioner Daniel Greenberg paused his investigation into the allegations after Mr Farage resigned, but will now resume the work following from his re-election.
Chair of the Labour Party, Bridget Phillipson, commented: “Let’s be clear: this is no victory for Nigel Farage. The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.”
