Caught up in cases of undeclared donations, Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, announced on Tuesday that he was resigning from the British Parliament to run again in a partial legislative election, so that voters can be “the judge of (his) actions”.
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For several weeks, the former Brexit figure has been in turmoil, struggling to explain why he did not declare large donations received from wealthy supporters shortly before his election as MP in July 2024.
He is under investigation by the parliament’s ethics committee over a donation of 5 million pounds (5.7 million euros) received from a billionaire who made his fortune in cryptocurrencies, Christopher Harborne, a few months before running for the legislative elections.
AFP
This controversy comes as the spectacular rise of Reform UK, which has dominated voting intention polls for months and emerged victorious in the last local elections in May, seems to be slowing down.
After withdrawing in recent weeks, Nigel Farage, 62, has therefore chosen the counterattack.
AFP
“I will resign from my mandate as MP for Clacton-on-Sea (south-east of England, Editor’s note), which will cause a by-election (…) and I will stand in this by-election,” he said in a video statement.
“The people of Clacton must be the judges of my actions,” he insisted during this speech, during which he accused the media and his political opponents of attacking him.
“Desperate maneuver”
He again claimed to have “done nothing wrong” and to have used part of the money received to finance his security.
“I am the most verbally and physically attacked public figure or political leader in modern times,” he said.
His resignation puts the ongoing investigation by the ethics committee on hold, but it could resume if he is re-elected.
AFP
“All this allows him to do is buy time,” commented Tim Bale, political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, interviewed by AFP. “He will probably make it back to Parliament, but at that point the investigation will resume.”
Resigning Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Nigel Farage’s announcement a “desperate maneuver”, while Labor spokesman Andy Burnham, tipped to succeed him in Downing Street, derided a “communications stunt intended to divert attention from serious accusations”.
Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Nigel Farage to “answer the questions” instead of causing an “ego-driven” election.
After seven unsuccessful attempts, Nigel Farage was finally elected MP in July 2024 in this constituency of Clacton-on-sea where more than three quarters of voters had voted for Brexit in 2016, and which was therefore largely won by the fierce promoter of leaving the European Union.
“Unfair means”
Referring to the future by-election, the date of which is not yet known, he affirmed that it would be the vote “of the people against the establishment”, repeating the anti-system discourse that he regularly deploys. He proposed that Reform pay for organizing the election.
“The establishment now seems to have decided that it cannot beat us fair and square. He therefore chose to resort to unfair means,” accused Nigel Farage.
AFP
He received the support of American President Donald Trump, of whom he calls himself a friend, on the network Truth Social.
The investigation puts him at risk of suspension from the House of Commons, which could have led to the triggering of a legislative by-election in his constituency. An eventuality that he therefore preferred to anticipate with the announcement of his resignation.
New MPs are required to declare any money received in the 12 months before their election, unless it is not considered to be linked to political activities.
And he risked a new investigation, after revelations from the Sunday Times this weekend. The newspaper revealed that he had not declared having benefited from security services, hosting as well as support for his communication on social networks, financed by another entrepreneur in cryptocurrencies, George Cottrell.
These cases add to other allegations over misdeclaration of its UK property interests.
