Nigel Farage, leader of the British anti-immigration party Reform UK, has announced that he will resign as MP for Clacton and fight a by-election after coming under pressure over undeclared donations.
In a special address streamed live online, Farage defended himself, saying that the donations were to pay for private security. He framed the contest as a battle between the establishment and those who want change.
Farage had become embroiled in a scandal involving a multi-million-pound donation. On Sunday, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened another investigation into him regarding his failure to declare donations totaling £5m ($6.7m).
This is the second complaint filed against the rising star of the British opposition, and it was lodged by the president of the Liberal Democrats, Joshua Babarinde, who made headlines last November when he proposed to his partner, Connor, on the floor of the House of Commons.
Babarinde based his complaint on an investigative report by The Sunday Times, which revealed a connection between Farage and convicted cryptocurrency speculator George Cottrell. Over several years of collaboration, Cottrell provided Farage with support and donations worth approximately £5m, which the Reform UK leader failed to disclose.
Donation Received Before Re-Entering Politics
However, Farage accepted these donations before entering Parliament. The well-known Eurosceptic, whose pressure helped bring about Britain’s exit from the European Union, cites this fact and claims that he did not violate the code of ethics or any House of Commons rules.
Under House of Commons rules, new MPs must register any relevant gifts or benefits worth more than £300 ($400) received in the 12 months before their election. However, such benefits must be linked to their political activities, giving Farage further room to make his case.
In 2017, Cottrell was convicted in the US of money laundering on behalf of alleged drug dealers, who turned out to be federal agents. He had been arrested a year earlier at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, where he had traveled with Farage.
Farage had previously accepted approximately £5m from British-Thai cryptocurrency trader Christopher Harborne, who is a co-owner of the cryptocurrency firm Tether. However, Farage described the funds from Harborne as a personal gift, which, in his own words, he was not required to disclose. He invested them in personal security.
The Sunday Times revealed that after entering Parliament, Farage reported a single donation from Cottrell worth £9,253.60 (about $12,400), intended for travel expenses and personal security. The newspaper claims that the failure to report additional donations “appears to be a breach of the rules”, which subsequently led Babarinde to file a second complaint.
Will There Be a By-Election in the Clacton Constituency?
If the investigation confirms that he violated the rules, the Speaker could suspend him from office for 10 days, after which a further investigation would follow. According to Reuters, a suspension of more than 10 days would trigger a petition for a by-election in his home constituency.
As recent opinion polls show, Reform UK already has the support of 26% of respondents, even before the midpoint of the electoral cycle. Ipsos found that the ruling Labour Party has the support of 24% of respondents, while approximately 18% would vote for the Conservative Party and 13% for the Greens.
Only 11% of those surveyed would vote for Babarinde’s Liberal Democrats, which may be one of the reasons why their president filed another request to investigate Farage’s finances. However, the investigation into donations has not yet led to a shift in public opinion, although in an Ipsos poll asking about specific leaders, the head of Reform UK was overtaken by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
After seven unsuccessful attempts since leaving the European Parliament, Nigel Farage won the Clacton constituency in 2024. Apart from him, only four Reform UK MPs were elected to the House of Commons in the vote two years ago. The next general election in Britain is scheduled for no later than 15 August 2029.
In a special address streamed live online, Farage defended himself, saying that the donations were to pay for private security. He revealed details of another incident where he was physically attacked and criticized the authorities for reducing funding for his security by 70%. Deeply angry, he lambasted The Sunday Times journalists, claiming they had endangered his daughter by publishing a photo of her home.
Pre-empting the Standards Committee, he also announced that he would be resigning as MP for Clacton, but not as leader of Reform, in order to fight a by-election. He framed this as a battle between the establishment and those who want change. Now his future, and that of the country, lies in the hands of the small seaside town.