British police have arrested a man for threatening to kill Nigel Farage, the Telegraph can disclose.
The suspect – who has described himself as a terrorist on social media – warned Farage: “I am going to shoot you in the head if you win.”
It is the first time an instruction to police by the parliamentary authorities to investigate a threat to kill the Reform UK leader has resulted in an arrest.
It comes after Reform MPs demanded better security provision for politicians after the killing of Ann Widdecombe, who was the party’s immigration and justice spokeswoman.
Farage has complained in the past that police have done nothing to tackle other people who have made similar threats online.
The arrest of the man in his 20s in London on Tuesday suggests police may now be taking such threats more seriously as a result of Widdecombe’s killing, which counter-terror police have described as a targeted attack.
The threatening post on X was made on May 8, the day after the local and mayoral elections, but the man was only arrested on July 14, six days after Widdecombe was killed at her home on Dartmoor.
The man in question later responded to another of Farage’s tweets, which celebrated Reform’s success in the local elections, with further threats to his life.
The suspect, whose profile on X is a picture of a British Asian man, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of sending a threatening communication.
He was interviewed before being released on bail pending further inquiries, which will include examination of any phones and computers used by him. He has used Hindu phrases on X and describes himself as a Liberal Democrat.
Farage told the Telegraph: “This is the first time the police have ever proactively acted on a social media post, and I hope they are looking at the other three or four hundred similar posts from this year alone.
“This has been going on for years – not just words but videos of people firing guns and so on, and in the past we have put multiple reports in to the police, always to be told that these social media posts don’t meet the threshold, which is extraordinary.
“And it goes deeper than that. It’s about the comedian Jo Brand joking about throwing battery acid in my face, it’s about Noel Fielding telling people to stab me, and if the police now decide to act to protect the lives of serving and ex-politicians, then at least something good will have come out of Ann’s horrific death.”
On Wednesday morning, Scotland Yard informed Farage of the man’s arrest.
The tweet had been identified by Parliament’s security information and risk analysis service and was reported to the Met’s parliamentary liaison and investigations team, which investigated it as a threat directed towards a serving member of Parliament.
Detectives contacted X to identify the account holder, and after he was arrested and interviewed, he was released on police bail.
His bail conditions include not contacting Farage directly or indirectly, restricting his use of social media and excluding him from the Palace of Westminster area.
It is understood that detectives are preparing a file to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging advice, but it is likely to be several weeks before the file is submitted.
The force said in a statement: “On Tuesday, July 14 a man in his 20s was arrested by Met officers on suspicion of sending threatening communications to a Member of Parliament.
“The arrest relates to a social media post from earlier this year, which was reported to police on Friday, May 8.
“After receiving the report, detectives submitted an application to a social media platform to gain access to the user’s contact information.
“After the relevant information was returned to detectives, the man was arrested, with support from local Met officers, at a residential address in south London. After being held in police custody overnight, he has since been bailed pending further enquiries.”
Farage has previously disclosed that his home was the subject of a firebomb attack last year, which has not so far resulted in any arrests.
On Wednesday, Zia Yusuf, the home affairs spokesman for Reform, spoke of the “overwhelming sense of fear amongst the Reform MPs” following Widdecombe’s killing, which prompted police to offer security to all of the party’s MPs.
He said: “In terms of the current situation with state protection for Reform MPs, there has been some movement in the very near past. I’m not going to comment on that but suffice to say I think, particularly in light of new information, I’m pleased to say the threats are being taken seriously.”
Last year, an Afghan migrant was found guilty of threatening to kill Farage.
Fayaz Khan, 26, posted a TikTok video in which he said that, when he reached Britain in a small boat, he was “going to shoot” the Reform UK leader.
On Wednesday, Farage claimed that Starmer had told him that Widdecombe’s killing was a “burglary that’s gone wrong”.
The leader of Reform UK said he had spoken to the Prime Minister and the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police several times at the weekend following the announcement of the former Tory MP’s death on Friday.
On Wednesday morning, Farage told TalkTV: “They both told me it’s a burglary that’s gone wrong. I said, no, it is not – a burglar does not park his car on your drive and walk into the house. A burglar parks in the lay-by down the road and has a getaway driver.
“I went to Dartmoor on Saturday and said I had no doubt this is a premeditated murder. I received tons of abuse for saying it, but sadly it’s proved that I’m right. It was obvious.”
Later on Wednesday, Farage said he was “not pointing the finger” at Starmer, who had been passing on what police had told him.
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