Security guard who protected Nigel Farage on campaign trail was facing rape charge

Security guard who protected Nigel Farage on campaign trail was facing rape charge

 

Ryan Dinnage – who accompanied Reform UK leader on walkabouts before local elections – was later jailed, raising questions about vetting failure

 

Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

Fri 30 Oct 2026 07.00 CET

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/30/security-guard-who-protected-nigel-farage-jailed-ryan-dinnage

 

One of Nigel Farage’s security team who accompanied him on the local election campaign trail this year was facing a rape charge and was later jailed for eight years, raising questions about a failure of vetting.

Ryan Dinnage spent time protecting Farage in April and May, but in June was convicted of having raped a woman while she slept in a caravan at the Royal Windsor horse show.

Dinnage was seen beside Farage on walkabouts on at least four occasions on Reform’s local election campaign trail this spring: in Llandudno, Conwy County; Waterlooville, Hampshire, Worthing, West Sussex, and Downham Market, Norfolk.

He had been charged in 2025, three years after the crime took place at the equestrian event in 2022.

View image in fullscreen

Ryan Dinnage, 32, from Croydon, was sentenced in July to more than eight years in prison. Photograph: Thames Valley police

Reform UK acknowledged Farage was provided with protection by Dinnage, and said his services had been supplied by a third-party contractor who had assured them he had been vetted.

A spokesperson for the party said: “As soon as we found out, we were shocked and disgusted and he ceased to be used by Reform.”

However, the episode raises questions about how a security operative facing a charge of serious sexual violence could have been put in a position of responsibility near a senior politician and members of the public.

Reform UK did not answer further questions about whether the party was continuing its relationship with the third-party contractor, and whether any action was taken against them.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage must urgently explain at what point Reform UK became aware that they allowed a man charged with rape to directly interact with the public on their behalf. They must also urgently make clear what action they have taken to prevent such a situation happening again.

“Farage and his party are lurching from scandal to scandal and the public are rapidly seeing who they really are. In recent weeks Farage has shrugged off vile misogyny and Reform has an appalling track record when it comes to standing up for women. It’s time Farage showed some leadership for once, got his house in order, and realised the buck stops with him.”

Farage is generally accompanied by a large security team, and has spoken of threats being made against him. The man accused of murdering Ann Widdecombe has been charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism, including against Farage. Over the summer, counter-terror police reopened a year-long investigation into an alleged firebomb attack at Farage’s home in south London.

The Reform UK leader has repeatedly said he accepted a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in order to pay for his security for the rest of his life. He has previously turned down taxpayer-funded security from the government, which included a bodyguard, a car, and a trained driver, deeming it to be inadequate.

Dinnage, then 32, of Croydon, was sentenced to eight and half years in prison in July. According to Thames Valley police, his offence took place in the early hours of 16 May 2022, when Dinnage entered the caravan where the victim was sleeping and raped her. He was reported to police later that day and arrested the next day.

Reform is not the only party in the spotlight for a vetting failure in recent weeks. The Conservatives were criticised, by Reform UK, for having employed a former election candidate, Jack Ross, who was filmed by an undercover reporter appearing to discuss the cost of hiring contract killers. Ross had worked as a consultant in Kemi Badenoch’s office.

Ross is facing an investigation by the Tories after he was filmed apparently asking an undercover reporter: “What do you want done?” and apparently offering to “broker” the services of an alleged far-right paramilitary group.

Police in Scotland have said they will be reviewing an Al Jazeera documentary in which Ross was filmed seemingly making a range of comments about what a contract killer could be employed to do, and talked about using far-right groups to create disruption on the streets.