Nigel Farage, the prominent British politician known for his strong anti-immigration stance, has decided to resign from his position as a member of parliament. He made this announcement with plans to enter a snap by-election, a bold move that comes amidst heightened scrutiny surrounding his financial affairs.
This unexpected decision occurs while Farage’s party, Reform UK, is leading in national opinion polls. Meanwhile, he is grappling with increasing criticism over his failure to disclose certain gifts, including those supposedly received from an individual convicted of fraud.
In a televised statement, Farage defended his record by saying, “I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.” He was referring to his constituency in southeast England, which he has served for the past two years.
He further emphasized the stakes of this election by describing it as “a people versus the establishment by-election,” reaffirming his intention to be a candidate.
Meanwhile, parliament’s anti-corruption watchdog continues its investigation into Farage. They are examining accusations that the long-time critic of the European Union failed to disclose a substantial donation of £5 million ($9.6 million) from Christopher Harborne, a billionaire involved in cryptocurrency in Thailand.
Farage’s resignation means the probe will be suspended until after the by-election.
But Labour and the Conservative parties have both said they will not field candidates in a by-election, UK media reported.
“Nigel Farage is engulfed in a sleaze scandal, and he’s desperately trying to change the subject,” a Labour spokesperson said.
“It’s pathetic, and the Labour Party is not going to indulge it.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party would only field a “candidate in the real by-election, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances”.
Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, is also facing calls to investigate allegations that George Cottrell, convicted of wire fraud in the United States, paid for security and staff for Farage shortly before he became a member of parliament.
Farage, who helped persuade Britons to vote to leave the EU during a divisive referendum in 2016, was elected an MP on his eighth attempt during the July 2024 general election.
Reform, which advocates mass deportations of illegal migrants and the scrapping of net zero energy targets, has since led the ruling Labour party in opinion polls.
Fears among Labour MPs that Reform could win the next nationwide vote, expected in 2029, ultimately led them to force Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce his resignation last month.
New MPs are supposed to register any money they received in the 12 months before their election unless it cannot be “reasonably” seen as linked to political activities.
Farage has insisted he did not need to declare the money from Harborne because it was a personal gift to pay for his own security.
‘Political tool’
Cottrell, a 32-year-old crypto entrepreneur from an aristocratic family, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the United States in 2017 and was jailed for eight months.
Labour and the centrist Liberal Democrats had asked Greenberg to probe the latest allegations.
“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all,” Farage said, claiming that parliamentary standards were “now being used as a political tool”.
A spokesperson for Andy Burnham, widely expected to become Labour’s new leader and therefore prime minister later this month, branded Farage’s move “a gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage’s funders”.
“Ultimately all it does is buy him time,” Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
“He’ll probably make it back into parliament, but at that point the investigation will start up again. So he can run, but he can’t hide.”
Clacton is a seaside town in Essex which voted heavily in favour of Brexit. Farage won the seat with a majority of 8,405, and his party has offered to cover the cost of the by-election.
Rupert Lowe, leader of the far-right rival party Restore Britain, who is backed by US tech tycoon Elon Musk, also said his party would not participate in an “unnecessary sham” election.
By-elections usually take place between 25 and 35 days following a resignation.