Farage to get prime spot at Remembrance Day service for the first time after by-election victory

By GLEN OWEN and BRENDAN CARLIN Published: 22:07, 15 August 2026 | Updated: 22:23, 15 August 2026 Nigel Farage will stand alongside other party leaders at the Cenotaph for the first time in November as he tries to revive Reform UK's fortunes after his much-mocked by-election victory. Mr Farage's re-election as MP for Clacton – in a contest he triggered to try to halt a growing media clamour over Reform UK's finances – means the party's Commons contingent is back to eight MPs. Under a 1984 protocol, a Westminster political party must have at least six MPs to have the right to lay a wreath at the National Service of Remembrance. Reform has grown from five MPs in November last year after high-profile defections from the Tories. It has been a long-standing ambition of Mr Farage, who is an aficionado of military history, to join the Prime Minister and other leaders at the Remembrance ceremony as a symbol of his breakthrough into the political mainstream – despite his claim that the Clacton win 'stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment'. Mr Farage is being urged by his close allies to 'turn off his phone and have some rest' after a period of febrile Westminster speculation about his health and long-term commitment to the leadership. Those same allies are also urging Mr Farage to 'reboot' the party by dismissing his home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, who annoyed Mr Farage last week by describing Tory former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as 'a traitor to Britain' for allowing into the UK thousands of Afghans who had served the UK during the war in their country. A source said: 'Nigel has fallen out of love with Zia, who is out of control. I think his days are numbered. Rupert [Lowe, leader of the breakaway Right-wing Restore party] only left because Zia went for him so hard over some HR nonsense. If Zia goes, Rupert could be persuaded back.' Nigel Farage's re-election as MP for Clacton – in a contest he triggered to try to halt a growing media clamour over Reform UK's finances – means the party's Commons contingent is back to eight MPs It has been a long-standing ambition of Mr Farage, who is an aficionado of military history, to join the Prime Minister and other leaders at the Remembrance ceremony as a symbol of his breakthrough into the political mainstream Mr Farage won 63 per cent of the votes in Thursday's election, which was dubbed a 'pointless farce' by the Tories after a boycott by the main parties. He failed to turn up at the declaration at the Essex town's leisure centre, where he would have been pictured beside joke candidates led by Count Binface, after his party claimed there was 'a credible threat' against him. Within hours of the declaration, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards restarted its inquiry into his alleged 'failure to register an interest' over a £5million donation from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, which could lead to another by-election.  A government source said: 'The protocol setting out which parties can lay a wreath at the Service of Remembrance is governed by a 1984 agreement between the Queen, the then Speaker of the Commons and Westminster party leaders. 'A party must take up six seats to be invited to lay a wreath. Those with two or more seats, but fewer than six, can view the service from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office building.'