NIGEL Farage has announced that he will quit as an MP and fight a by-election in his own constituency after coming under intense pressure over unregistered donations of cash and support.
In a video statement, the Reform UK leader said: “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all.”
He accused the media of harassment and vowed to fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election.
Why has Nigel Farage resigned as an MP?
The main bit of background ahead of the announcement is that the Clacton MP is facing multiple parliamentary standards investigations.
He was already facing a parliamentary standards investigation over a £5 million gift from Reform donor Christopher Harborne before becoming an MP, which he claimed was for security.
But he has also faced calls for another investigation following reports that long-term ally and convicted criminal George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding for security and staffing in the year before he was elected.
Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.
“Posh George”, as he is nicknamed, is an aristocratic private banker who works closely with Farage. He has an unofficial role in Reform, and previously served eight months in an American prison for fraud. He admitted attempting to defraud criminals on the dark web by masquerading as a money launderer.
Under the Commons’ rules, new MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
Farage sought to paint the decision to resign as a personal decision and said he had “never been angrier in my life” as he claimed the media had been “haranguing” his family amid the scandal, which outlets have denied.
But the Reform UK leader might also be seeking to jump before he is pushed.
Afterall, the standards committee at the House of Commons can order the suspension of an MP and trigger a by-election, including if an MP provides false or misleading information.
Rather than waiting for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to potentially rule against him, which could have led to a suspension and a subsequent recall petition to force him out of his seat, he might have chosen to resign on his own terms.
“I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions," he said.
“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.”
