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Nigel Farage has announced he is to resign as the MP for Clacton to fight a byelection, after revealing he is under a second investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog over undeclared gifts.
In a high-stakes move, the Reform UK leader said it was part of “sticking two fingers up at the establishment” and it would prove that the public wanted him to stay on as an MP.
Farage revealed his intentions in a defiant address, claiming the establishment was out to prevent a Reform government and accusing the media of a “pile-on” and of harassing his family. He also said the party was offering to pay the costs of a byelection which can reach more than £۲۵۰,۰۰۰.
However, his opponents quickly accused him of trying to distract attention from the serious allegations he is facing about failing to declare a £۵m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and financial support from his friend and fraudster George Cottrell.
A spokesperson for Andy Burnham, who is set to take over from Keir Starmer as prime minister, said it was a “gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage’s funders”, while Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said Farage was throwing a “hissy fit”.
The Reformleader has been the subject of a standards inquiry after he did not make public a £۵m gift from Harborne before the last election, as revealed by the Guardian in April.
He said on Tuesday there was now another inquiry over allegations that he was financially supported by the crypto gambler and convicted fraudster Cottrell.
His resignation as an MP means the inquiries will probably be paused, but could be resumed if deemed proportionate after the byelection. If he were to be suspended as a result, there could even be a second byelection after that.
The timing of the decision to call a byelection before the standards commissioner has come to a verdict on his parliamentary declarations may also raise questions with voters, who will not be able to see the facts laid out before they decide on his future.
In his statement, Farage said: “I thought about it hard and I’ve decided today I will resign as a member of parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a byelection … I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.
“This will be a people versus the establishment byelection. It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment to frankly tell them where to go and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this byelection.
“I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started and I would say this to you, the voters of Clacton: If I win, you win.”
Farage won the seat with a majority of ۸,۴۰۰ in ۲۰۲۴ with the Conservatives coming second and Labour third.
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However, he could face a wave of tactical voting against him if there were to be an alliance of progressive parties, and a concerted effort against him by the even further right Restore Britain, led by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
Lowe has not said yet whether his party will fight the byelection, but he criticised Farage’s decision to lead a media circus to Clacton. “Farage has proven one thing today and one thing only – everything that he does is about one person,” he said.
Supporters of Farage praised his decision as brave, with Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, saying it was “history being made” after Farage “laid down the gauntlet to the establishment” with the future of the UK at stake.
Another member of Farage’s inner circle, Raheem Kassam, said it “defangs the media, turning any and all issues into a democratic exercise, rather than allowing himself to be tried by the nation’s corrupt press”, and he claimed that it also “stuffs the Tories and Restore” as well as neutralising the parliamentary standards investigation.
“If, somehow, he loses, it will be with his head held high having put the voters’ first. It beats being browbeaten by the press, or by some bureaucrat,” he added.
Opposition parties all indicated they planned to fight the election including the Liberal Democrats, Greens, Labour and Conservatives.
The Lib Dems called Farage a “Temu Trump” who gave a “self-obsessed diatribe” and had done nothing for his constituents while lining his own pockets.
