The Reform UK leader made the shocking announcement today after he said he was considering ‘legal action’ against The Sunday Times
Farage recently clashed with Sky News when asked about his finances(Image: Sky News)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced he will resign in a shock move today.
In a public statement, the MP said he will step down as MP for Clacton-on-Sea to trigger a by-election.
“I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he said in the sensational public statement this afternoon. “And that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election. I will fight to win.”
The announcement comes after an investigation by The Sunday Times allegedly shed light on financial support he had been given from a convicted fraudster, as well as a £5m ‘gift’ from a donor of the party.
However, Farage insisted no wrongdoing in his statement. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law.”
However, he went on to accuse the press and establishment of ‘intimidation’.
“I will not tolerate the intimidation of my family”, he added.
“I have never been angrier in my life”.
Farage accused the media of harassment and vowed to fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election.
The Reform UK leader has faced calls for an investigation following reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding for security and staffing in the year before he was elected.
Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr 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.
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.
Mr Farage is already facing a parliamentary standards investigation over a £5 million gift from Reform donor Christopher Harborne before becoming an MP.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have called for both the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate the support from Mr Cottrell.
Mr Farage said standards investigations by the parliamentary authorities are “now being used as a political tool”.
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