Farage quits UK parliament, will run in byelection
· Toronto Sun
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Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist Reform UK party, resigned from British parliament and will run for his seat again in a special election amid growing controversy over financial donations.
Farage made the announcement on his YouTube channe l to step down as an MP for Clacton-on-Sea to force a by-election in which he will once again run.
He seems to be trying to get ahead of recent public scrutiny over the source of his personal wealth, which is being investigated by a parliamentary watchdog. The probe will be suspended until he’s re-elected. Even if he loses, a commissioner will decide whether or not to continue the probe.
Farage denied wrongdoing in his address.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all,” he said. “I’ve decided the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions. I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started.”
Polarizing figure
Farage is one of Britain’s most polarizing figures. He was a major voice for Brexit, his Reform UK party has made considerable gains against the ruling Labour Party in local government elections and national polls and he’s a possible contender for prime minister. He’s virulently opposed by Britain’s hard-left and political establishment, particularly for his views on immigration. Farage has pledged to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants, specifically illegal ones, which he has described as an “invasion.”
But recent revelations about the sources of his wealth threaten to derail the Reform leader’s gains. The Sunday Times reported that Farage did not disclose gifts and payments from British businessman George Cottrell, potentially breaching parliamentary rules.
Cottrell himself was indicted by American authorities in 2016 for conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail and extortion. He served eight months in jail and made a plea deal with prosecutors.
Less than three months before that, The Guardian reported Farage received a $6.7 million gift from UK billionaire Christopher Harborne right before he announced he would stand to be an MP in 2024.
A parliamentary standards watchdog is now investigating whether or not Farage should have declared the gift before becoming a legislator. For his part, Farage described his gift from Harborne as “the equivalent of a lottery win.”
On Tuesday, Farage said the ethics code applies only to public lives, not personal ones. He said he made money promoting finance products and as a social media influencer, and that such success “in itself should not be viewed as a crime.”
Big money
British MPs are allowed to have second jobs, as long as they don’t offer parliamentary advice. Farage himself has declared more than $2.7 million in “other” income since becoming an MP in 2024 according to public records — more than 20 times the basic annual salary of an MP, according to official figures .