The Telegraph, a paper that is normally supportive towards Farage (although that seems to be changing a bit \u2013 perhaps because new owners have taken control?), sums up the situation well with its splash headline.<\/p>\n
![\"Telegraph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/788.jpg\")
Telegraph splash Photograph: Telegraph<\/p>\n
If that will be unwelcome at Reform UK<\/a> HQ, then they will be even less happy about the Guardian\u2019s splash. In her exclusive Anna Isaac says:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe \u00a35m gift to Nigel Farage<\/a> by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.<\/p>\n The disclosure will put further pressure on the Reform UK<\/a> leader, who is awaiting a decision by the standards commissioner over whether his failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules.<\/p>\n Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about this article. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force a byelection<\/a> in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea.<\/p>\n Responding to the Guardian\u2019s story, Anna Turley, the Labour<\/a> party chair, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is an astonishing and deeply serious allegation. The circumstances surrounding Nigel Farage\u2019s secret \u00a35m \u2018gift\u2019 absolutely stink.<\/p>\n Farage is engulfed in a major sleaze scandal and his attempts to distract won\u2019t wash with the public. He\u2019s desperately flailing and can\u2019t get his story straight, and working people will conclude he\u2019s just in it for himself.<\/p>\n The Reform leader must finally come clean. He should publicly commit to cooperating with the National Crime Agency, fess up to the parliamentary watchdog over his finances – and face the consequences.<\/p>\n And this is from Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe wheels are completely coming off the Farage bandwagon. His stunt today is a desperate last ditch attempt from a man who knows the game is up. It seems we may have only scratched the surface on what is to come. We cannot play into this vanity project.<\/p>\n All parties should refuse to stand in this by-election, so we can swiftly get back to letting the parliamentary authorities finish their probe on his increasingly dodgy financial dealings. The people of Clacton, and the whole country, deserve the facts.<\/p>\n There are plenty of other developments in this story, and today I will mostly be focusing on them in the blog.<\/p>\n But there is other news too. Here is the agenda for the day.<\/p>\n 9am: Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, speaks at the Local Government Association conference. Other speakers are Suella Braverman, the Reform UK education spokesperson, and James Murray, the health secretary.<\/p>\n Noon: David Lammy<\/a>, the deputy PM, takes PMQs.<\/p>\n And Keir Starmer<\/a> is at the Nato summit in Turkey.<\/p>\n If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can\u2019t read all the messages BTL, but if you put \u201cAndrew\u201d in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.<\/p>\n If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X<\/a>, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.<\/p>\n I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can\u2019t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.16 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Count Binface has also received good wishes from a cabinet minister. Dan Jarvis, the defence secretary, issued this statement today about the Clacton byelection.<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is clearly a stunt from Nigel [Farage] trying to get in front of the concerns that have been expressed about him accepting \u00a35m We\u2019ll see what the standards commissioner rules.<\/p>\n My sense is he understands the strength of feeling, which I\u2019ve actually, interestingly, felt bottom up in my constituency. I think he senses that he is in real trouble and has taken action to try and get in front of that.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think that has played out particularly well for him. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s been well-received. I\u2019ve had some quite interesting feedback from my constituents that this is just a complete circus and a complete waste of time.<\/p>\n Looks like Count Binface will be sort of stepping forward, and good luck to him.<\/p>\n Jarvis is at the Nato summit in Turkey. For more coverage of the summit, and all the debate about defence, European foreign policy, and Greenland, do follow Jakub Krupa\u2019s coverage on his Europe live blog. There is no Count Binface in that story \u2013 although it has got Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Badenoch suggests Count Binface could end up as the people’s candidate in Clacton, against establishment Farage<\/p>\n Count Binface could do better than expected. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, was on Sky News this morning and, without quite endorsing him, she suggested she would be happy to see him beat Nigel Farage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Asked who Conservative supporters in Clacton should vote for, given that her party is not putting up a candidate, Badenoch replied<\/a>:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe people of Clacton, and the Conservatives in particular, are very sensible. They will do what they know to be right. It\u2019s not for me to be getting involved in that.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s see what kind of campaign Count Binface runs and who the establishment really is.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s the people versus the establishment, I think Nigel Farage might be looking like the establishment and Count Binface maybe the people.<\/p>\n The whole thing is a farce.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n For anyone involved in British politics, an invitation to be interviewed on Radio 4\u2019s Today programme is the ultimate badge of seriousness. There are probably hundreds of MPs who have never made it onto the programme because they have not been deemed important enough.<\/p>\n But, as if to prove the point that the Clacton byelection really is a \u201cfarce\u201d (see 7.59am<\/a>), this morning Today had an interview with Count Binface, the serial joke byelection candidate who may turn out to be Nigel Farage\u2019s main opposition in Clacton.<\/p>\n Asked if might win, Binface replied:<\/p>\n double quotation markProbably not, but then you know my job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy.<\/p>\n And look at this, eh? The fact that you are interviewing me on the Today Programme, because all the other parties aren\u2019t standing, says more about them than it does about me.<\/p>\n Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel\u2019s running a cunning stunt? And I pronounced that carefully at 8.55 in the morning.<\/p>\n Readers from abroad who are struggling to work out why a serious news programme would interview a man with a dustbin on his head as part of its politics cover need to know that in Britain there is a long tradition of treating election campaigns as part entertainment. There is also a long tradition of people standing as joke candidates. It is relatively cheap to enter a byelection (you have to pay a \u00a3500 deposit, which you lose if you don\u2019t secure 5% of the vote), and you are at least guaranteed a slot on TV when all the candidates are on stage as the result is announced. For many years the most prominent joke candidate was Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Loony party. Now Count Binface is his best-known successor.<\/p>\n Ever since British politics went mad after Brexit, some might argue that the conventional parties have been fairly good at throwing up joke candidates themselves. But the Monster Raving Loony\/Binface tradition lives on.<\/p>\n Count Binface being interviewed on Today Photograph: Nick RobinsonShare<\/a>Polanski tells council chiefs devolving power can help rebuild trust in politics Peter Walker is a senior Guardian political correspondent.<\/p>\n Zack Polanski has called for more devolution of powers to an ultra-local level as a way to combat populism and extremism, using a speech at the annual gathering of council bigwigs to argue that too many voters currently felt disconnected from people who govern the country.<\/p>\n Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, is among a series of speakers at the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth, with others today including James Murray, the health secretary, and Suella Braverman, the former Conservative MP who has defected to Reform.<\/p>\n In his speech, Polanski said those at the conference had \u201cchosen to work at the touchpoint where democracy meets the reality of people\u2019s lives\u201d, saying councils still had a massive impact on people\u2019s lives despite outsourcing and slashed budgets.<\/p>\n Saying the Greens championed an idea called subsidiarity \u2013 \u201cthat decisions should be taken at the closest practical level to the people affected\u201d \u2013 Polanski said that after he attended last weekend\u2019s Pride march in London with his boyfriend, he had been shocked by online abuse.<\/p>\n While he said this did not represent the views of many Britons, such toxicity was fuelled \u201cwhen people feel like politics is being done to them rather than with them\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Claiming this was something councils can help reverse, he went on:<\/p>\n double quotation markI don\u2019t believe that single-handedly will tackle homophobia, racism or indeed any hate crime. But I do strongly believe that returning power back to people\u2019s hands is a huge part of the role we should all be playing as elected public servants \u2013 and it\u2019s how we build trust again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Greens were the last of the main parties to say they would not be standing against Nigel Farage<\/a> and Reform UK in Clacton. A party source said that was because they take their internal democracy particularly seriously, and the local party had to be consulted.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Tendring Green party said last night:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe care deeply about the people of Clacton and Tendring, and we have no intention of helping to legitimise a by-election that appears designed not to serve local residents but to serve Nigel Farage\u2019s personal political ambitions.<\/p>\n We will not stand in this political circus of a by-election.<\/p>\n This contest is not about the people of Clacton. It is about one politician placing himself at the centre of a media spectacle and expecting local residents to play supporting roles in a drama of his own making.<\/p>\n Tendring is the council area that covers Clacton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, told the BBC this morning that Nigel Farage<\/a> had only triggered a byelection to avoid \u201cproper application of the rules\u201d.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe byelection shouldn\u2019t be happening. It\u2019s Nigel Farage who has chosen, I think, frankly, to disrespect the people of Clacton by just doing this.<\/p>\n This is a stunt that is all about his own interest. It\u2019s not about the people of Clacton. It\u2019s not about the country. He was elected in a general election.<\/p>\n He is only doing this because he wants to somehow distract from what is simply the proper application of the rules and I don\u2019t think that is fair on the people of Clacton.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In his Today interview Zia Yusuf, Reform UK\u2019s home affairs spokesperson, admitted that Nigel Farage<\/a> has triggered a byelection in Clacton as a response to the threat of the parliamentary inquiry into his \u00a35m donation leading to a recall byelection.<\/p>\n Yusuf said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe reason that he has made the decision that he has is because the most serious sanction that parliamentary standards can impose is, of course, a suspension long enough such that a parliamentary byelection would be called if there was a recall petition.<\/p>\n So what he has done is say: \u2018Let\u2019s go directly to that ultimate source of truth.\u2019<\/p>\n I know a lot of people in the establishment are uncomfortable with that, because for somebody to do what Nigel has done, whether you like him or not, it takes courage, and that\u2019s obviously a word that can\u2019t be associated with almost anybody in politics these days, sadly.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Only 12% of people think Farage has been honest about his financial affairs, poll suggests<\/p>\n YouGov has published new polling<\/a> about Nigel Farage this morning.<\/p>\n One finding is that only 12% of people think Farage has been honest about his financial affairs. According to the poll, 60% of people think he has not been honest about them.<\/p>\n Polling on Farage Photograph: YouGov<\/p>\n But there is a bit more support for Farage over his decision to call a byelection. While 43% of people oppose the decision either strongly (32%) or somewhat (11%), 24% support it either strongly (11%) or somewhat (13%).<\/p>\n Polling on Farage Photograph: YouGovShare<\/a><\/p>\n On the Today programme Nick Robinson, the presenter, asked Zia Yusuf if he accepted that \u201cvoters have a right to know if their politicians are given millions of pounds by very wealthy individuals who are lobbying for policies which will make them even more rich?\u201d<\/p>\n Yusuf said he did not accept the premise of the question.<\/p>\n double quotation markIf somebody, anyone rich or not, is giving money to a politician in order to lobby for a cause \u2013 which, by the way, happens; sadly, as someone who has only been in politics a couple of years, I\u2019ve seen it in Westminster, all too much \u2013 then, yes.<\/p>\n But this is not what has happened.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Zia Yusuf claims main parties not contesting Clacton byelection because they’re ‘running scared’ of Farage<\/p>\n Zia Yusuf, Reform UK\u2019s home affairs spokesperson, has been giving interviews this morning. On the Today programme, he said the main parties were engaged in an \u201cextraordinary\u201d level of coordination in deciding not to put up candidates against Nigel Farage<\/a> in the Clacton byelection.<\/p>\n He claimed there was a simple reason why they were not contesting the byelection.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe reason why they are choosing not to field a candidate is very simple; having screamed for a byelection at the top of their lungs for weeks now, having been given one, they are running scared.<\/p>\n In fact, the other parties have not been calling for a byelection; they have just been saying the parliamentary inquiry should be allowed to run its course. (That inquiry could eventually lead to a byelection, but only if the Commons were to suspend Farage for 10 days or more on the basis of a finding that he broke the rules.)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.38 EDT<\/p>\n Ed Davey urges government to block Farage’s resignation until standards inquiry concludes<\/p>\n Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has restated his call<\/a> for the government to stop Nigel Farage resigning as an MP.<\/p>\n In an interview on the Today programme, Davey said:<\/p>\n double quotation markI don\u2019t think there should be a byelection until the investigation [into claims that Farage broke parliamentary rules by not declaring the \u00a35m donation from Christopher Harborne] has completed. The people of Clacton deserve to know whether their MP has broken the rules in a very, very serious way.<\/p>\n No government has tried to stop an MP resigning from parliament for almost 200 years. But, because of the procedure used when an MP resigns, in theory it could be done. Davey said in this case ministers should block the resignation.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markIf you want to resign as an MP, you actually have to apply to the government to have an appointment to an office. And the chancellor actually decides whether to appoint you. Now, normally that has happened.<\/p>\n However, there is a precedent going back to 1842 where the chancellor has didn\u2019t appoint someone to one of these positions [steward of the Chiltern Hundreds]. And if that appointment is not made, then Mr Farage can\u2019t resign and the investigation will continue.<\/p>\n In posts on his social media feed<\/a>, Matthew England, a researcher for the Hansard Society, says no government has stopped an MP applying for the Chiltern Hundreds since the 1840s.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Labour calls on Farage to \u2018come clean\u2019 over \u00a35m gift and work with crime agency over money laundering concerns<\/p>\n Good morning. In a surprise announcement, yesterday Nigel Farage<\/a>, the Reform UK leader, said he would resign from the Commons so that he could fight a byelection in the hope of being re-elected as MP for Clacton. He thought a resounding win would somehow invalidate the parliamentary inquiry into claims that he broke parliamentary rules by not disclosing a \u00a35m donation (and potentially other donations too). But within hours all the main parties had said they would not be contesting the byelection, and it may be that Farage\u2019s only notable opponent is Count Binface.<\/p>\n The Telegraph, a paper that is normally supportive towards Farage (although that seems to be changing a bit \u2013 perhaps because new owners have taken control?), sums up the situation well with its splash headline.<\/p>\n Telegraph splash Photograph: Telegraph<\/p>\n If that will be unwelcome at Reform UK<\/a> HQ, then they will be even less happy about the Guardian\u2019s splash. In her exclusive Anna Isaac says:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe \u00a35m gift to Nigel Farage<\/a> by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.<\/p>\n The disclosure will put further pressure on the Reform UK<\/a> leader, who is awaiting a decision by the standards commissioner over whether his failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules.<\/p>\n Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about this article. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force a byelection<\/a> in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea.<\/p>\n Guardian splash Photograph: Guardian<\/p>\n Responding to the Guardian\u2019s story, Anna Turley, the Labour<\/a> party chair, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is an astonishing and deeply serious allegation. The circumstances surrounding Nigel Farage\u2019s secret \u00a35m \u2018gift\u2019 absolutely stink.<\/p>\n Farage is engulfed in a major sleaze scandal and his attempts to distract won\u2019t wash with the public. He\u2019s desperately flailing and can\u2019t get his story straight, and working people will conclude he\u2019s just in it for himself.<\/p>\n The Reform leader must finally come clean. He should publicly commit to cooperating with the National Crime Agency, fess up to the parliamentary watchdog over his finances – and face the consequences.<\/p>\n And this is from Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe wheels are completely coming off the Farage bandwagon. His stunt today is a desperate last ditch attempt from a man who knows the game is up. It seems we may have only scratched the surface on what is to come. We cannot play into this vanity project.<\/p>\n All parties should refuse to stand in this by-election, so we can swiftly get back to letting the parliamentary authorities finish their probe on his increasingly dodgy financial dealings. The people of Clacton, and the whole country, deserve the facts.<\/p>\n There are plenty of other developments in this story, and today I will mostly be focusing on them in the blog.<\/p>\n But there is other news too. Here is the agenda for the day.<\/p>\n 9am: Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, speaks at the Local Government Association conference. Other speakers are Suella Braverman, the Reform UK education spokesperson, and James Murray, the health secretary.<\/p>\n Noon: David Lammy<\/a>, the deputy PM, takes PMQs.<\/p>\n And Keir Starmer<\/a> is at the Nato summit in Turkey.<\/p>\n If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can\u2019t read all the messages BTL, but if you put \u201cAndrew\u201d in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.<\/p>\n If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X<\/a>, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.<\/p>\n I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can\u2019t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.<\/p>\n![\"Guardian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783502650_985_792.jpg\")
Guardian splash Photograph: Guardian<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783502651_322_Peter_Walker.png\")
Peter Walker<\/p>\n