Maja Smiejkowska/PA
Nigel Farage has insisted that he is taking his job as an MP seriously after he jetted off to the US for the second time since being elected to represent Clacton in the Houses of Parliament in July.
The Clacton MP reckons he has visited the Essex town “a couple of days a week” since July, despite there being scant evidence to back up his claims.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “I’ve been reasonably successful in life and I intend to be successful as an MP for this area.
“Am I going to take this job seriously? You bet your life I am. Am I taking it seriously? Yes, of course I am.”
Farage, the leader of Reform UK, last week denied being paid almost £100,000 a month to present a show on GB News.
It came as he declared his income across various jobs in the published Parliamentary Register of Interest, including writing for the Daily Telegraph and recording personalised video messages.
“I can comfortably work 80, 100 hours a week – I am a workaholic,” he said on Thursday.
“I flit back and forth to America and I do a bit of GB News, I do all sorts of things.
“I’m here a couple of days a week, I reckon that’s about right. I’ve got to be in Westminster.
“There’s a lot going on and life isn’t about how much you spend doing each individual thing, it’s if you do that thing well.”
Farage also outlined his aims to put forward Reform UK candidates in next May’s local elections for Essex County Council.
It followed the party’s first formal meeting being held in Clacton on Wednesday.
“There is a general feeling of dissatisfaction that Clacton feels a bit ignored by Essex County Council,” the MP added.
“A bit ‘they’re over there, they don’t matter, they’re always going to vote Conservative’ – well just you wait until next May.”
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