Main U.K. parties refuse to fight Farage in byelection

The largest political parties in the U.K. said they would not contest a byelection in the Clacton-on-Sea constituency after its MP, Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage, resigned from his post on Tuesday (July 7, 2026), saying he would run again in the byelection that has been triggered by his resignation.

The Labour Party, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens as well as Restore Britain — a party further right of Reform U.K. — appeared to deny Mr.

Farage the political mileage he is seeking from a re-election in refusing to participate in the forced contest.

Mr.

Farage is currently under investigation by a parliamentary standards body for not registering a personal gift of £5 million from Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne weeks before he announced that he was running in the 2024 general election.

His resignation announcement was made towards the end of an approximately 15-minute speech on Tuesday afternoon, during which he railed against “the establishment”, accusing the mainstream political parties in Britain and the media of unfairly targeting him.

The investigation is independent of whether or not Mr.

Farage continues to be an MP as well as the results of the byelection.

“Now I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.

This will be a people versus the establishment by-election,” he had said on Tuesday.

Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch accused Mr.

Farage of trying to create a distraction from the “very fishy” gift he received, during a televised interview on Wednesday morning.

“We will not stand in this political circus of a byelection,” a Green Party spokesperson said.

Restore Britain has said it would contest a byelection if the investigation conclusion necessitated one eventually but that it would not contest the byelection triggered on Tuesday by Mr.

Farage’s resignation.

U.K.'s Farage referred to standards watchdog after new report of undeclared benefits Mr.

Farage has offered different explanations of the Harborne gift — from suggesting it was a “reward” for his Brexit campaign to saying it was funding for his personal security.

He has continued to argue that he did not break the rules by not declaring the gift.

The probe, launched in May, has not yet concluded.

There are, however, other allegations against the Reform U.K. chief.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times published a report alleging that Mr.

Farage received funding from a longtime associate and convicted criminal, George Cottrell, funding his security, housing and staffing.

Farage reportedly broke gift registration rules.

The Liberal Democrats have referred this incident to the parliamentary standards commissioner.

Farage has repeatedly insisted he has done nothing wrong, arguing that the parliamentary code did not cover what MPs spent in their private lives .

“The press would rather our Members of Parliament had no assets and no wealth at all; they seem to fundamentally object to any MP who has outside income,” Mr.

Farage said in his broadcast on Tuesday (July 7, 2026), adding that he was earning well in the 1990s as a commodity trader but did not do well financially as a member of the European Parliament subsequently.

Farage boasted that his actions led to Brexit (he had spearheaded the Brexit campaign as chief of the Eurosceptic U.K.

Independence Party) and that he emerged from the process with “very little money”.

Standards for MPs were being used as a political tool, Mr.

Farage said.

The £5 million was going to be needed for his security, Mr.

Farage said, adding that he was the most physically and verbally attacked politician currently.

He said the country was about to get a Prime Minister without a mandate, referring to MP Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor and MP, who is likely to succeed U.K.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer imminently.

Farage on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) called for a general election.

Reform U.K. had performed strongly in the May 2026 elections for local council seats in England and assembly seats in Wales and Scotland, at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives although it has been losing voters to the far right Restore Britain party.