Updated ,first published
London: British right-wing leader Nigel Farage has made a shock decision to quit parliament over media reports about his ties to wealthy donors – and said he will contest a by-election within weeks to prove he has a mandate from the public to stay in politics.
The decision means voters in his regional electorate will be asked to decide whether to keep Farage as their local member or reject him because of questions about donations he received from a billionaire investor and an aristocrat who was convicted of fraud.
But his move drew swift derision from political opponents ranging from the Labour Party to the Conservative Party and the far-right Restore Britain, who dismissed the need for a by-election and said Farage should wait for an independent inquiry into the donations he had received.
The outcome means no major party will field a candidate against him in his electorate of Clacton, north-east of London, in moves that seek to prevent him claiming a popular mandate or major victory if he wins.
Farage declared he was angry at media intrusions into his private life and said he had done nothing wrong in receiving help from his wealthy friends, saying the parliamentary rules did not seek to curb an MP’s private life.
After calling a press conference for 2pm in London on Tuesday (11pm that night, AEST), the leader of the Reform UK party gained live media coverage of his decision to test voter support in his own seat.
The move is unusual in the Westminster system, in which it is common for MPs to switch parties or become independents without testing their popular support at a by-election.
While it could cost several hundred thousand pounds, Farage said Reform was willing to pay for it.
After speaking for 14 minutes about his concerns about his privacy and the media reports about the financial support he had received, Farage announced the surprise move to put his fate in the hands of the local electors.
He rebuked the media for its reports and said they should not have any authority over his future.
“Why should they be the people that decide my fate, when, as I repeat, I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.
“I thought about it hard, and I’ve decided today – today – I will resign as a member of parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a by-election, which would happen, I hope, in short order.
“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.
“It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment, to frankly tell them where to go.
“And that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election. I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started.”
Farage is subject to a formal inquiry into a £5 million ($9.7 million) gift he received from Christopher Harborne, who is based in Thailand and is estimated to be worth billions of pounds.
He is also facing calls for a separate inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards into the help he received from George Cottrell, an aristocratic investor known as “Posh George”, who served time in prison in the United States for wire fraud.
Calling a by-election may not cancel any inquiries into the donations, however, because a commissioner might choose to continue a review whether or not Farage is returned to the House of Commons.
“A parliamentary standards inquiry continues whether you’re in the House or not,” said Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell.
Based on the previous election results and the current opinion polls, Farage would appear to be likely to hold his seat.
Farage won the electorate of Clacton at the 2024 general election with 46.2 per cent of the vote, placing him far ahead of his closest rival in the first-past-the-post system, which does not allocate preferences.
He had a clear lead over the Conservative Party candidate, who received 27.9 per cent of the vote, and the Labour candidate, who gained 16.2 per cent.
The latest national opinion poll shows that Reform has 24 per cent support among voters, ahead of the Conservative Party on 20 per cent. The YouGov survey, conducted at the end of June, showed that Labour had 19 per cent support.
Farage is at risk from a backlash from voters who do not want a by-election, but his principal right-wing rival, Restore Britain, is holding fire until the donations inquiries are finalised. If the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards rules against Farage, the outcome might force him to a second by-election this year.
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, who advocates the death penalty and the forced emigration of migrants, said he would not run a candidate in Clacton until the inquiries were done.
“We are not going to participate in a Reform-sponsored media circus over the summer months that is designed to puff up Farage’s ego and deflect away from wholly fair questions over why he has concealed such vast and irregular financial donations,” he said.
“Farage can play with his toys for the next six weeks, but Restore Britain is going to continue producing detailed policy papers, exactly as we have been, outlining how we can fix our country.”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticised Farage for his “hissy fit resignation” and Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a “desperate stunt”.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.