Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage announces his resignation as a member of parliament while giving a statement on his ‘future in public life’ at Millbank Tower on Tuesday in London.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced that he is stepping down as an MP to trigger a by-election and take on his critics.
In a lengthy video statement released on Tuesday, Mr. Farage railed against the media and the “establishment” for relentless attacks on him and his personal finances. He said he would resign as the MP for Clacton-on-Sea and run in a subsequent by-election.
“I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment by-election,” he said in the video.
Reform has been leading most opinion polls for months and the party’s surging popularity was the main reason Keir Starmer recently announced that he will resign as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister. Mr. Starmer bowed to growing pressure from dozens of Labour MPs who feared the party would suffer a massive defeat in the next election with him as leader.
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But Reform’s success has also led to greater scrutiny of the party and its leader.
Mr. Farage has been under investigation by parliamentary officials since May over a £5-million gift, or $9.5-million, he received from Reform donor Christopher Harborne, a British billionaire investor, in April, 2024. That was three months before Mr. Farage’s election as an MP.
The Sunday Times revealed last weekend that Mr. Farage also received support from George Cottrell, a British businessman and longtime ally who was convicted of fraud in the United States in 2017. According to the article, Mr. Cottrell paid for some of Mr. Farage’s staff ahead of the election and gave him the use of a house.
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Under parliamentary rules, newly elected MPs must disclose any gifts or benefit they received in the 12 months before taking office. However, there are exemptions for benefits that are considered “purely personal”.
Mr. Farage has argued that he followed the rules to the letter. “Let me be absolutely clear, I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” he said Tuesday. “It would seem from the last couple of years from the way I’ve been treated that the press would rather our Members of Parliament have no assets and no wealth at all.”
He also criticized the Times for running a photograph of his daughter which he said had “directly threatened her security.”
“I will not tolerate intimidation of my family,” he said. “I’ve never been angrier in my life.”
If Mr. Farage was found to have broken the rules he could have been suspended from parliament.