Nigel Farage squirmed in a heated interview as he was questioned on a Reform UK MP’s assault conviction for kicking his former girlfriend 18 years ago. The party leader described James McMurdock as someone who has “picked himself up from a terrible situation and made a big success.” The former investment banker did not publicly disclose his conviction for assault before being elected and claimed he had “pushed” his partner. The Times later obtained information about his sentencing from the courts, which said he was locked up for 21 days in a young offenders’ institute for kicking the victim “around four times” in 2006 when he was a teenager. Mr Farage dismissed the “discrepancy” between Mr McMurdock’s comments about the incident and the official record as an issue for constituents.