People are pointing out one small problem about Nigel Farage and PMQs to Reform backers

It only took him eight attempts, but Reform UK and its supporters are delighted that Nigel Farage has been elected as the MP for Clacton and will scrutinise the actions of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party – except people have had to point out one tiny issue to Farage fans on this particular issue.

While in many constituencies Farage’s party came second to the Labour winner, they only managed to secure five seats in the Commons – with the former Ukip leader joined by Tory defector Lee Anderson, party chairman Richard Tice and new political faces Rupert Lowe and James McMurdoch.

Such an outcome for Reform UK means that as much as they branded themselves as the “real opposition” to Labour throughout the election campaign, the results on Thursday showed that the Conservatives will now form His Majesty’s opposition – even after Rishi Sunak led them to their worst election result in history and left them with just 121 MPs compared to Labour’s 412.

And when it comes to Prime Minister’s Questions, the makeup of the new parliament means – per UK Parliament rules – the leader of the opposition (currently Rishi Sunak until the formal processes for appointing his successor are agreed and they are voted in) gets to ask six questions of the prime minister, while the second largest party (the Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats) gets to ask two.

If they’re not picked to ask a question and are not listed for the session, then they have to rise to their seat before each member asking a question in a method known as ‘catching the speaker’s eye’.

All these rules mean it’s far more unlikely that we’ll see Farage asking regular questions of Starmer in PMQs – a fact which Twitter/X has been all too keen to point out to Reform UK supporters:

Not to mention that, with the formalities of a new parliament, members will have to wait quite a while before the first PMQs, as this Wednesday will see MPs continue to be sworn in and next week sees the state opening of parliament.

It means Starmer will first take questions from members on 24 July – with recess pushed back to 30 July.

Nevertheless, we’ve already heard from Farage in the Commons, as on Tuesday he expressed his party’s support for Sir Lindsay Hoyle to be re-elected as speaker, which he was.

He described PMQs as “global, box office politics” and in a dig at the current speaker’s predecessor John Bercow, said Hoyle was “a marked contrast to the little man who was there before you”.

“[He] besmirched the office so dreadfully, in doing his best to overturn the biggest democratic result in the history of the country,” he said.

Farage, of course, was referring to his favourite subject of Brexit, although Bercow has previously batted away questions over his impartiality as speaker on the matter.

Speaking to the Foreign Press Association in 2019, he said: “My job was to stand up for the rights of the House of Commons. No apology for championing the rights of parliament.”

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