Police have called for a protester who was thrown out of Nigel Farage’s Reform conference speech to come forward after footage showed audience members pulling her hair and grabbing her head.
The Reform UK leader has complained the request from West Midlands Police amounts to double standards.
The force said it had not received a direct complaint but asked the woman to make contact so officers can carry out further investigations following videos of her removal from the conference hall being shared online.
Demonstrators were thrown out of the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham four times during Mr Farage’s keynote speech.
They interrupted the Reform leader’s address, which was delayed over security concerns.
The Clacton MP laughed during the disruption and said: “We’ve got a screamer. Oh dear.”
Addressing the conference hall, Mr Farage added, “that poor young girl, she looked like she was going to do herself an injury”, before adding, “boring, boring, boring”.
A man in the audience was also seen hitting the protester with a walking stick.
Mr Farage said on Saturday the criticism was “one-sided”.
A statement from West Midlands Police said: “We’re aware of a video circulating from the Reform UK conference showing an incident with a protester.
“We haven’t received a complaint but would ask the woman involved to come forward and contact us so we can carry out enquiries.
“Anyone with any information should contact us on 101 quoting log number 924 of 5 September 2026.”
Activist group Climate Resistance claimed responsibility for the protest.
In a comment they said they were “horrified at the violence” from Reform conference audience members.
The group also said the protester is considering whether to come forward to police.
Mr Farage told broadcasters on Saturday: “It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.
“Yet, well, we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them. Suddenly we’re in the wrong. Utter nonsense.”
He added: “This is just also one-sided. It is ridiculous. There were people there trying to disrupt our conference. We always have them. We always have them and we remove them quickly and expeditiously.”
Deputy Reform leader Richard Tice also had his address interrupted when a banner was unravelled on stage by Greenpeace.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf condemned members who pulled the hair of a heckler during Mr Farage’s speech.
Asked about the footage, he told a conference fringe event: “On the question of whether I condemn people punching people, yes, I condemn people punching people.”
But party chairman Lee Anderson said Reform would be having a “whip round” for an audience member who was seen hitting the protester with a walking stick.
He told the conference: “I did see an old chap, a pensioner somewhere with a walking stick.
“Look, I don’t condone any sort of that behaviour, but if anybody wants to have a quick whip round later, we are collecting for a new walking stick.”
Former Conservative cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, who is now a Reform UK member, said protesters “are not really going to get gentle treatment”.
She told a fringe event: “Of course no-one should be violent, no-one should throw punches, but… no-one should come into this conference and try and disrupt it.”
The end of the first main day of the Reform conference saw a series of protests disrupting speeches.
A banner appeared during Mr Tice’s speech which said: “Collect £5 million, burn the planet”.
The banner, which also depicted Mr Farage in a top hat and carrying a bag of money, remained visible for several minutes before being taken down.
It is believed it had been scheduled to appear during Mr Farage’s speech, but an hour’s delay to the start of the day meant it only emerged later.
During Mr Farage’s speech, two women stood up and held a banner reading “Reform works for billionaires”.
They were booed by audience members who shouted “out”.
