Chancellor Rachel Reeves has accepted Nigel Farage's request to resign as an MP, clearing the way for a by-election in his Clacton constituency. The Reform UK leader announced he would quit to stand in the contest, framing it as a "people versus the establishment" fight, as he faces scrutiny over gifts and support he has received.
Technically, MPs cannot resign and must instead be appointed to either the steward and bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead, symbolic roles which bar them from the Commons. Ms Reeves said: "I will accept Nigel Farage’s request to be appointed Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. It is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better. But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him."
Main Parties Boycott Contest
The main Westminster parties are boycotting the by-election, meaning Mr Farage's highest-profile opponent is likely to be comedy candidate Count Binface. The Liberal Democrats had called on Ms Reeves to block the process, arguing Mr Farage should not be allowed to quit until a parliamentary investigation into undeclared donations had concluded.
Mr Farage is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he should have registered a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he said was needed to fund the security he required as a result of multiple threats against him. The Reform leader is also facing questions over support provided by George Cottrell after a Sunday Times investigation. Long-term ally Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.
Farage Defends Actions
New MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift "could not be reasonably thought by others" to relate to their political activities. The Reform UK leader maintains he has done nothing wrong, and claimed the people of Clacton "should be the judges of my actions" after accusing the media and his political opponents of being part of an establishment effort to attack him.
Count Binface conceded he will probably not win in Clacton, where Mr Farage had a majority of 8,405 and 46.2% of the vote in 2024. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "My job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy. And look at this, eh? The fact that you are interviewing me on the Today programme, because all the other parties aren’t standing, says more about them than it does about me. Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel’s running a cunning stunt? And I pronounced that carefully at 8.55 in the morning."
Farage: Rivals Running Away
Mr Farage told GB News: "It seems that the media and political classes want to paint me out to be like a war criminal, as if everything I’ve ever done is wrong, is bent, is corrupt. I don’t get a chance to properly answer it. I don’t see why I should be judged by them. We’ll ask the people here what they think, and if they give me a big endorsement, that sends a big message to the establishment." He said "it says a lot more about them than it does about me" that rival parties are not standing in Clacton. "They are running away from the battle because they know they would be annihilated. It’s as simple as that. And, frankly, it’s a bit of an insult to the people in the constituency that they don’t want to stand."
Andy Burnham, who is expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 within weeks, defeated Count Binface in the Makerfield by-election last month which saw him return to Westminster and effectively finish the Prime Minister’s time in office. He shared a picture of himself with his masked rival with the caption: "Always worth knowing when bin day is."
