Farage seeks August 6 date for by-election which will be boycotted by rivals

Sophie Wingate, David Hughes and David Lynch, Press Association

Nigel Farage wants the by-election in Clacton to take place on the earliest date possible, on August 6.

Reform UK said it will propose that date when it launches the parliamentary process to trigger the contest on Thursday.

However, it is unclear whether it can happen that soon, as the House of Commons library sets out that a by-election cannot take place for at least 21 working days after a writ is issued, with this Friday counting as day one.

Mr Farage has said he wants a “people versus the establishment” fight in the Essex seat after coming under scrutiny about undeclared gifts and financial support before he was first elected.

After quitting as an MP on Wednesday, he looks set to compete against a comedy candidate with a bin on his head as the main Westminster parties are boycotting the contest.

A Reform spokesman said: “Reform UK will move the writ tomorrow morning, and we are proposing a by-election on 6 August.”

The Chancellor said she had approved Mr Farage’s resignation even though “it is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better”.

“But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him,” she added.

The Liberal Democrats had called on her to block the process, which involved appointing him to a symbolic role as technically MPs cannot quit, until a parliamentary probe into his undeclared donations is finished.

Mr Farage is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he should have registered a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he said was needed to fund the security he required as a result of multiple threats against him.

The Reform leader is also facing questions over support provided by George Cottrell after a Sunday Times investigation.

Long-term ally 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.

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.

The Reform UK leader maintains he has done nothing wrong, and claimed the people of Clacton “should be the judges of my actions” after accusing the media and his political opponents of being part of an establishment effort to attack him.

Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Farage had “run himself into a cul-de-sac” by triggering a by-election which is being boycotted by the main parties.

‘Utterly exposed’

The Prime Minister told reporters at the Nato summit in Turkey: “Nigel Farage has been utterly exposed in this complete stunt that he was trying to set up.”

He said the Reform leader was “up to his neck in sleaze and he doesn’t want to answer questions about it”.

The inquiry by Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg will be paused, but can resume if Mr Farage wins the by-election and returns to the Commons.

If he is found to have broken the rules and a suspension of more than 10 days is imposed, it could trigger a recall petition and the prospect of Mr Farage losing his seat – forcing another by-election.

Mr Farage told GB News: “It seems that the media and political classes want to paint me out to be like a war criminal, as if everything I’ve ever done is wrong, is bent, is corrupt.

“I don’t get a chance to properly answer it. I don’t see why I should be judged by them.

“We’ll ask the people here what they think, and if they give me a big endorsement, that sends a big message to the establishment.”

‘Insult’

Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have said they will not stand, which Mr Farage called “an insult to the people in the constituency”.

Count Binface conceded he will probably not win in Clacton, where Mr Farage had a majority of 8,405 and 46.2% of the vote in 2024.

Andy Burnham, who is expected to replace Sir Keir in No 10 within weeks, defeated Count Binface in the Makerfield by-election last month – which saw him return to Westminster and effectively finish the Prime Minister’s time in office.

He shared a picture of himself with his masked rival with the caption: “Always worth knowing when bin day is.”