Farage resigns, sets up Clacton by-election over donation row

Nigel Farage resigned as MP for Clacton on 7 July 2026 and said he would contest the resulting by-election himself. Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg is examining whether Farage failed to register a £5 million gift linked to Christopher Harborne, alongside separate questions over support from George Cottrell.

Farage won the Essex seat at the 4 July 2024 general election with 46.2 percent of the vote, a majority of 8,405, on turnout of 58.7 percent in an electorate of 78,245. Nine candidates stood, and Reform UK took the seat from the Conservatives.

Under the Recall of MPs Act 2015, a suspension of at least 10 sitting days, or 14 calendar days where that is the stated period, can trigger a recall petition in the constituency. That petition stays open for six weeks and succeeds if 10 percent of eligible registered voters sign it; if it succeeds, the seat falls vacant, but the MP can still stand again in the resulting by-election.

Keir Starmer described the move as a stunt, Ed Davey dismissed it the same way, and Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives would not stand a candidate in what she called a fake by-election. If Farage wins the current contest and later loses a standards fight in Westminster, Clacton could still face a second by-election.