Nigel Farage, the leader of the far-right, anti-immigration Reform UK party, has resigned from his parliamentary seat and plans to stand again for his constituency amid allegations that he received and failed to declare millions of dollars in donations.
The surprise announcement came on Tuesday as Farage faced the possibility of a parliamentary investigation into at least two funding scandals. A finding against him could have seen Farage suspended from parliament, possibly triggering a recall petition and a by-election in his constituency, Clacton, in eastern England.
By stepping down preemptively, the Reform leader, whose popularity has soared over the past two years, triggered a by-election on his own terms – in which he himself can stand. “The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “This will be a people vs the establishment by-election.” Other parties have already stated that they will not field candidates for a by-election Farage triggers.
The right-wing populist leader has been one of the loudest anti-immigration voices in the United Kingdom and was key to securing victory for the Brexit movement. His Reform party currently has just eight of 650 parliament seats but has been leading in opinion polls as anti-migrant sentiments flare in the UK. Last year, a YouGov poll found that Reform would likely win a general election were one to be held then.
Farage is facing an investigation into donations, including allegations he received undeclared money for his campaign. The main investigation concerns a 5-million-pound ($6.7m) undeclared donation from Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Guardian reported bankers flagged the donation to the National Crime Agency as potentially laundered money. Farage claims the money was a personal gift received before being elected to parliament.
Separately, an investigation by The Sunday Times found that Farage received donations from convicted fraudster and cryptocurrency entrepreneur George Cottrell for security and staffing before the 2024 elections. Cottrell was arrested in the US in 2016 on charges of offering to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers and served eight months in prison.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Farage’s announcement a “desperate stunt” because the Reform politician was “up to his neck in sleaze”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party “will not be standing a candidate in the fake by-election that Farage is causing to distract people”. Reform UK has sounded a defiant tone, with deputy leader Richard Tice claiming Farage will “receive a dramatically increased majority” in the by-election.
Source: www.aljazeera.com