A woman has been charged with assault by beating and criminal damage after a milkshake was thrown at Nigel Farage.
Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, will appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on 2 July following the incident at a campaign event in Clacton, Essex on Tuesday.
A 44-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker has been released and will face no further action.
Clacton is where the Reform UK leader is vying to be an MP after announcing his return to frontline politics this week.
Mr Farage was doused in what appeared to be a McDonald’s banana milkshake as he left a Wetherspoons Moon and Starfish pub in the area at around 2pm.
He was seen with the yellow drink splattered across his dark blue suit as he boarded his campaign bus.
The veteran Eurosceptic initially laughed off the incident, saying “my milkshake brings all the people to the rally”.
He later said that it was “quite frightening” but that was the risk that came with his “old-style street campaigning”.
Mr Farage is no stranger to being pelted with food or drink, and it is not even the first time he has had a milkshake thrown at him.
In May 2019, Paul Crowther, from Newcastle, forced the then Brexit Party leader to drink a £5.25 banana and salted caramel milkshake from Five Guys during a walk in the city centre ahead of the European elections.
He was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage. He was ordered to pay Farage £350 compensation for cleaning his suit after the “politically motivated attack”.
That same year, the term “milkshake”, which refers to pouring a milkshake on a public figure, was officially recognised in the Collins Dictionary.
In 2014, Farage, then leader of UKIP, was pelted with eggs by protesters during a campaign visit to Nottingham.
The incident occurred just hours after he had launched his campaign surrounded by hundreds of supporters.
The July 4 election will mark his eighth attempt to become a member of parliament. So far, he has not been able to do so.