Nigel Farage Will Be In The US Again Weeks After Finally Securing A Seat In Parliament
Nigel Farage will be flying to the US on Friday for the second time in less than two months.
The Reform UK party leader, who was elected to parliament for the first time in July after seven previous failed attempts, is already state-side, according to the Mirror.
Farage is the keynote speaker for an event called Keep Arizona Free Summit, and has already been paid a deposit of nearly £12,000 for his appearance.
He said his MP’s register of interests “will be updated with the final payment once the engagement has been fulfilled”, although he has “absolutely no idea” how much the final payment will be.
The Clacton MP defended the move by claiming it was organised “over a year ago”.
He told the newspaper: “I am not the sort of person who lets people down otherwise you get a terrible reputation.
“They advertised the fact I was coming a long, long time ago. So, number one, I don’t breach things that I have previously agreed to. Number two, unlike everybody else I work seven days a week.”
He added that he is not living in Clacton at the moment but is looking to move there, and that he has “only a couple” more speaking gigs arranged for this year.
HuffPost UK has reached out to Reform UK for comment.
Farage’s first trip to the US saw him attend the Republican National Convention in an effort to see his friend Donald Trump after the failed assassination attempt on the ex-president.
Farage officially registered this trip’s purposed as “to support a friend who was almost killed and to represent Clacton on the world stage”.
Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, who stood against Farage in Clacton for Labour, said it was “deeply frustrating” and proved “his commitment has always been to himself rather than those who sent him to serve”.
He pointed out that the people of Clacton want “an active and dedicated MP,” and that while he was claiming “record amounts of money” others were struggling with the cost of living crisis.
Farage is also the UK’s highest-earning MP according to the first register of interests of the new parliament, taking home almost £1.2m a year.
He revealed he earns £97,900 a month from being a presenter on GB News, £4,000 a month by the Daily Telegraph, and more than £7,000 from social media and Cameo videos.