Reform under pressure as Farage ploughs on with by-election boycotted by rivals

Helen Corbett, Press Association Political Correspondent

Reform UK is facing continuing scrutiny as Nigel Farage ploughs ahead with plans for a by-election, which will be boycotted by political rivals.

The party said it will propose August 6 as the date for the Clacton vote when it launches the parliamentary process to trigger the contest on Thursday.

It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves made Mr Farage’s resignation as an MP official, saying “if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him”.

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.

But his main rival looks set to be Count Binface, a comedy candidate with a bin on his head, as the main Westminster parties have declined to take part in the contest.

It is unclear whether the Clacton vote can happen on the date proposed, 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 faced criticism over his decision to trigger a by-election before the completion of a parliamentary probe into his undeclared donations, which is now paused after his resignation – but will resume if he is re-elected.

Writing in The Express newspaper on Thursday, he said other parties were “running scared” of the vote and accused Labour, the media and “the whole establishment” of doing “everything they can to destroy me, my family, the party, our donors and the millions who support us”.

He wrote: “In our democracy, who should decide who gets to sit as an MP or form a government?

“Should it be the voters of seats such as Clacton? Or should it be the British establishment, through its political agents, media mouthpieces and parliamentary committees?”

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.

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, who maintains he has done nothing wrong, appeared to confess he had been wrong-footed by political rivals as they all refused to participate in the by-election.

Asked if he had considered the prospect of standing as the only proper candidate, he told the Daily Mail: “No, of course not. Why would they (not contest)? It’s a real election.”

A Guardian report suggested on Wednesday that bankers raised concerns to the National Crime Agency through suspicious activity reports (SARs) about at least four transactions involving senior Reform leaders.

These include the £5 million gift to Mr Farage and a £1 million donation from Mr Cottrell’s mother to Britain Means Business, described as a fundraising vehicle for Reform which deputy leader Richard Tice is a director of.

Mr Tice accused the NCA of leaking his and Mr Farage’s private information on Tuesday.

Reform UK did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, police have opened an investigation into a political donation of nearly £40,000 made to Robert Jenrick’s campaign to become Conservative Party leader in 2024 amid claims it ultimately came from a foreign source.

Newark MP Mr Jenrick, who has since defected to Reform, rejected the allegations as “entirely false” and his spokesman said he had provided “detailed records that categorically disproved these smears in 2025” to the Electoral Commission.

Speaking to broadcasters on Thursday morning, trade minister Sir Chris Bryant said he “wouldn’t bother voting” if he lived in Clacton as he dismissed the by-election as a “farce without any jokes in it”.

He questioned whether the money Mr Farage received had passed “the Mrs Merton test – what was it that first attracted you to the multimillionaire?”

Mr Farage says he was not required to declare the gift from Mr Harborne, which he has insisted was purely personal.