A social media post claimed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was “practising his Ann Widdecombe grief walk for his PR stunt”. The post included a low-quality video of a man walking up and down a road.
Social media claims
Similar posts shared a clearer and longer version of what appears to be the same video, including a separate similar clip of Mr Farage walking. One wrote: “After a successful* day grief campaigning, Nigel Farage prepares himself for the role of shadow prime minister.” Another said: “Is everything Farage does ‘rehearsed’ and for the cameras?”
Evaluation of the video
The video was filmed during the 2024 general election, so it is not connected to the recent death of Ann Widdecombe. The clip shows a shot of Mr Farage walking in Clacton-on-Sea.
When was the video filmed?
The post on X claiming Mr Farage is “practising his Ann Widdecombe grief walk” attached what seems to be a blurry recording of a video of a man walking away from the camera, turning around, and then walking towards the camera. The video is too blurry to tell whether the man is Mr Farage. The video shows part of a media company’s watermark.
The other X posts share what seems to be the same video, although much clearer and with an additional clip. In this case it is clearer that the man in the video is likely Mr Farage. These videos show the full Getty Images watermark and both contain the same number in the bottom left corner.
Searching for this number on Getty Images’ website shows the video was created on July 4 2024 and uploaded on July 5 2024. The video is titled “General Election 2024: Nigel Farage walking in Clacton”.
Mr Farage’s outfit
Mr Farage’s clothes in the shared videos are different from his own video of him paying tribute to Miss Widdecombe on Saturday. In the widely shared videos he is wearing sunglasses, a light blue double breasted suit jacket and light-coloured trousers, with a tie that appears to be purple and patterned. In the video from this weekend he is wearing a dark double breasted suit jacket and black tie. A newspaper’s video of the same event also shows the same outfit.
Not all of the online posts made a claim that the video is recent or related to the death last week of Miss Widdecombe. However, they do not make clear that it is a two-year-old video.
