Labour MPs have mentioned Nigel Farage and Reform UK at least 30 times at Prime Minister’s Questions this year, a GB News analysis of Hansard’s records has revealed.
The attacks, often posed as thinly veiled as open goals for Sir Keir to hammer home, have primarily centred around workers’ rights, the NHS and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The People’s Channel revealed earlier this year that the three themes have become a cornerstone of No10’s efforts to thwart the rise of Reform UK.
However, Labour MPs have also focused on Liz Truss, Reform-run local authorities and Mr Farage’s absence from Prime Minister’s Questions.
GB News found that backbench Labour MPs have been behind just over half of the roasts directed at the Reform UK leader, with the rest coming from Sir Keir or Angela Rayner during her stint as Deputy Prime Minister.
There was also clear evidence of a surge in attacks on Mr Farage in the New Year, especially when Reform UK cemented its position as Labour's successors-in-waiting in the opinion polls.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has mentioned Mr Farage in regards to potential donations from Tesla boss Elon Musk on January 8 and on withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights just last week.
Migration was also a theme for the Scottish National Party, with Stephen Gethins accusing Sir Keir of joining the Clacton MP in “victim blaming” over the Channel crossing crisis.
Despite joking about the Reform UK leader skipping the Wednesday despatch box bout, Mr Farage has only missed two more than Sir Keir - with the pair failing to attend six and four respectively.
Sir Keir Starmer took aim at Nigel Farage during last week's Prime Minister's Questions
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The figure means Sir Keir has missed more Prime Minister’s Questions in percentage terms than five out of seven of his predecessors.
Since Prime Minister’s Questions was changed to a single weekly session, Sir Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss all registered better attendance rates, with Gordon Brown and Rishi Sunak being the only former Prime Ministers to miss more than Sir Keir.
Sir Keir's attacks on Reform and Mr Farage have yet again raised whether the Clacton MP lives rent-free in the Prime Minister's head.
Responding to GB News's findings, Reform UK's Chief Whip told the People's Channel: "Labour's obsession with Reform UK during PMQs is proof that just four MPs are the official opposition in the country.
"With Reform UK regularly topping the polls at over 10 per cent maybe Starmer should be asking himself why?"
However, Mr Farage sparked fury last week by skipping PMQs to visit Congress, having already headed stateside for a Republican event in Florida and during Donald Trump’s 2024 US Presidential Election campaign.
During last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir made a direct attack on Mr Farage for jetting off to Washington.
Nigel Farage has asked six questions at PMQs since entering the House of Commons
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The Prime Minister said: “Of course, the Honourable Member for Clacton is not here to represent his constituency in the House that he was elected to.
“No, he has flown to America to badmouth and talk down our country.
“It is worse than that, Mr Speaker: if you can believe it, he has gone there to lobby the Americans to impose sanctions on this country that will harm working people.
“You cannot get more unpatriotic than that. It is a disgrace.”
Some of the Labour MPs who have been bashing Nigel Farage at PMQs: Lola McEvoy, Imran Hussain, Josie Gosling, Mike Tapp, Preet Kaur Gill and Bill Esterson
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Meanwhile, Mr Farage spoke to GB News at Reform UK’s annual conference about his reasons for not always attending Prime Minister’s Questions.
He said: “There’s almost no point in me going to PMQs. I have to sit there, take abuse every week, and I have no means of answering. It’s ridiculous.
“There can’t ever have been a situation when a backbench Member of Parliament who is constantly referred to by put up questions from Labour MPs, answers from the Prime Minister, and what do I get? Once every few months, I can get up for 30 seconds and once I do I am shouted down.”
Kemi Badenoch, who has been afforded eight weekly questions since her first PMQs as Leader of the Opposition on November 6, has also opted to mention Reform UK, attacking Mr Farage for his support for scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
Lee Anderson speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London
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Backbench Tory MP Lincoln Jopp even attempted to tar Mr Farage as a “socialist” when he grilled Sir Keir on Rachel Reeves’s spending review.
Mr Farage has been invited by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to grill Sir Keir on just six occasions since the 2024 General Election, including September 11 and November 16 last year.
The Reform UK leader has been invited more times to take on Sir Keir in 2025, with the Clacton MP rising to his feet on February 5, April 30, May 14 and July 9.
Sir Lindsay has been forced to interject on three occasions due to heckling.
Angela Rayner has also swiped at Reform UK during her stand in appearances
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The Speaker intervened twice on February 5 when Mr Farage slapped down an attack on Reform UK’s NHS policy.
Reform UK’s Chief Whip also made a point of order after Mr Farage’s question on July 9 when Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed constantly hectored the Clacton MP.
Mr Farage was separately heckled on September 11 last year when he raised concerns about “two-tier justice” and on April 30 this year on the issue of Channel crossings.
The only Prime Minister’s Questions that saw little to no heckling was on May 14 of this year, when Mr Farage claimed Sir Keir "had learnt very much" from Reform UK when it comes to the migrant crisis.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle regularly intervenes when Nigel Farage asks the Prime Minister a question
| PARLIAMENTWhile Mr Farage has spoken at six Prime Minister’s Questions, SNP leader Stephen Flynn has spoken eight times since the 2024 General Election.
Ex-Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay also rose to their feet at nine Prime Minister’s Questions.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir’s loyalists have also had ample opportunity to lob soft-balls at the Prime Minister.
Dover & Deal MP Mike Tapp, who last week was promoted to become a Home Office Minister, has asked Sir Keir questions four times alone.
Nigel Farage defended his record at PMQs in an interview with GB News
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However, Reform UK’s remaining MPs - Mr Anderson, Richard Tice and Sarah Pochin - have only been able to ask a combined total of six questions between them.
Despite concerns about Reform UK MPs not being picked to grill Sir Keir, MPs are called upon by the Speaker via a randomised ballot held on the Thursday before Prime Minister’s Questions.
MPs can also be selected by bobbing up and down from their seats in a motion often known as catching the Speaker’s eye.
The Speaker's Office also told GB News: "Speaker Hoyle introduced for the first time the opportunity for smaller parties represented in the House to be asked a guaranteed question at PMQs on a rota basis."