UK Police Arrest Man Accused of Threatening to Shoot Nigel Farage

London's Metropolitan Police arrested a man yesterday (Tuesday) on suspicion of sending a serious threat to MP and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, after he posted a message on X threatening to murder him if he won the election. The arrest followed an investigation opened after parliamentary authorities referred the post to police.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the suspect — who reportedly described himself in the post as a terrorist — wrote to Farage: "I'm going to shoot you in the head if you win." The message was posted on May 8, the day after Britain's local and mayoral elections.

Although the post appeared in early May, the suspect was arrested only this past Tuesday, on suspicion of sending a threatening message. He was questioned and released on bail, and the investigation remains ongoing. Police said Farage, 62, was informed of the arrest that morning.

According to the reports, police were able to identify the suspect after the post was flagged by parliamentary authorities. The user profile reportedly displayed a photograph of a British-Asian man who identified himself as a Liberal Democrat supporter. Following the investigation, the case was classified as a threat against a sitting member of Parliament, and the suspect was barred from contacting Farage.

Farage welcomed the arrest but called it a departure from how the authorities have conducted themselves over the years. "This is the first time the police have acted proactively over a post on social media," he said, "and I hope they are also looking into the three or four hundred similar messages sent in this year alone."

He went on to criticise the handling of earlier threats against him: "This has been going on for years. It isn't just words — there are videos of people firing weapons, and the like. We filed a great many reports with the police in the past, and every time we were told these social media posts did not meet the threshold for action. That is simply extraordinary."

Farage currently pays for his own security detail out of pocket, after the state-funded protection provided to him was cut by 75% last autumn. Among the documented cases, one individual sent him six threatening messages between 24 June and 6 July [see note], including the line: "You could die at any moment." In April, Farage disclosed that his home had been set alight after, he said, a suspicious device was pushed through the letterbox.