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Police have arrested a man in London for allegedly threatening to kill Nigel Farage.
The suspect, who is said to have described himself as a terrorist on social media, is alleged to have warned Mr Farage: “I am going to shoot you in the head if you win.”
The threatening message was reportedly posted to X on May 8 following the local elections when Reform UK made major gains across England.
Ann Widdecombe speaking during a Reform UK eventPA ArchiveThe man was arrested on Tuesday, after the suspected murder of former minister Ann Widdecombe at her Devon home.
Responding to the arrest, Mr 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.
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“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.”
The Met Police said that a man in his 20s was arrested by Scotland Yard officers on Tuesday 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, 8 May,” the force added.
“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.“
The man was held in police custody overnight and bailed pending further enquiries.
Ann Widdecombe with Nigel FaragePAMr Farage sparked controversy by flatly dismissing the suggestion that Ms Widdecombe’s killing was a burglary that had gone wrong.
Counter-terrorism police, who took over the investigation from the Devon and Cornwall force, now say they believe she was killed in a “targeted” attack.
She was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, last Thursday.
A 28-year-old white British man, detained in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, remains under arrest on suspicion of commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism, as well as on suspicion of murder.
Police officers outside the house of Ann WiddecombeGettyMeanwhile, police in Scotland are looking into reports of a social media post that apparently celebrated Ms Widdecombe’s death.
The post, allegedly made by a University of Aberdeen employee, claimed the former MP’s killing was “good news” and that they had hoped it was an “extremely painful death”.
On Tuesday, a Police Scotland spokesperson said the force was looking into the incident.
They added: “We received reports on Saturday, July 11 relating to a post made online.
“Following further assessment, additional enquiries are being carried out.”
A spokesperson for the university said: “The comments that have been shared are entirely the individual’s own and do not represent the views of the University of Aberdeen.
“We do not condone violence or hateful behaviour in any form.
“We are cooperating with Police Scotland as they carry out their enquiries and cannot comment further.”
Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has said that a “serious review” was needed into MPs’ security following the suspected murder of Ms Widdecombe.
He described politics as having “darkened” in the near decade since he was last in Westminster and protections may need to be “increased further”.