Nigel Farage has resigned as the MP for Clacton and announced he will fight the resulting byelection, as scrutiny over his personal finances intensified with a second parliamentary investigation into undeclared gifts.
The Reform UK leader made the announcement at a press conference in London on Tuesday, accusing “the establishment” of an unfair pile-on after two months of scrutiny by journalists and parliamentary officials. The scrutiny began after it was revealed that Farage had received £5m from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne before the last general election, a gift he did not declare.
“Nigel Farage quits as Clacton MP to force byelection amid two parliamentary inquiries into undeclared gifts.”
Farage said on Tuesday that a second investigation had now been opened by the parliamentary standards watchdog over allegations that he was financially supported by the crypto gambler and convicted fraudster George Cottrell, a close friend. The first inquiry, opened by the commissioner for standards in May, concerns the £5m from Harborne.
Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must declare interests covering the period up to a year before their election. Farage received the money weeks before announcing he would stand in the 2024 general election. He initially said the gift was intended to cover personal security costs and therefore did not need to be declared. Later, when asked what had happened to the money, he told LBC: “I can spend it on Ferraris if I want. That’d be entirely up to me.”
If the first investigation were to find a particularly serious breach, Farage could face suspension from the Commons for 10 days or more, triggering a recall petition that would force him to fight for his seat at a time of someone else’s choosing. By resigning now, he has pre-empted that process. In his statement, Farage said he had taken the decision to let “the people of Clacton … be the judges of my actions”.
Inviting voters to “stick two fingers up” to his opponents by re-electing him, Farage’s move has been met with accusations of “desperation” from his political opponents, who have declined to run against him.