Why did UK Reform’s Nigel Farage quit as an MP? What happened? | | Election News

The leader of the right-wing party, opposed to immigration reform UK, Nigel Farage, has resigned from the parliament and wants to stand again for his constituency because of the reasons he received and failed to announce the millions of dollars.

The surprisingly announced it came on Tuesday as Mr Farage faced the possibility of being investigated by MPs over at least two financial matters. His opposition would have resulted in Farage’s suspension from parliament, prompting calls for a recall and a by-election in his constituency of Clacton, in the east of England.

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By deliberately resigning, the Reform leader, whose popularity has grown over the past two years and who is now considered the favorite to become prime minister, has launched a partial election based on his wishes – as far as he can stand.

“The people of Clacton must be the judge of what I have done,” Farage said on Tuesday. “This will be the people against a repeat election.”

Farage added: “I will fight to win.”

Some parties have already said they will not stand for Farage’s re-election.

The right-wing leader became one of the loudest anti-immigrant voices in the United Kingdom and was key to the victory of the Brexit movement. His Reform Party currently has just eight of the 650 seats but has been leading in the polls as anti-immigrant sentiment grows in the UK. Last year, a YouGov poll found that Reform would win the next general election.

In May, Labor lost heavily in the Reform elections in Wales and Scotland and 136 council elections in England. While Reform gained more than 1,450 seats, including in Labor strongholds, the ruling party lost more than 1,460 seats, showing the importance of support for Reform across the country.

Here’s what we know:

What is the financial risk surrounding Nigel Farage?

Farage is facing a parliamentary investigation into donations, including undisclosed money he received from his campaign.

Accepting a gift is not against the rules of parliament, but failure to declare it can be.

The main investigation is the one conducted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the 5-pound million (6.7m) undeclared donation Farage received from Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne before announcing his candidacy in the 2024 election.

On Tuesday, The Guardian reported that the banks had reported the donations to the National Crime Agency as potential money laundering.

Farage has said that the money is a personal gift, he received it before he was elected to parliament, therefore, it does not violate the rules of parliament.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage said on Tuesday.

Separately, an investigation by The Sunday Times this week found that Farage received donations from convicted criminal, cryptocurrency entrepreneur and former friend George Cottrell for security and staff ahead of the 2024 general election.

Cottrell, who has worked as an aide to Farage in the past, was arrested in the US in 2016 while traveling with Farage on charges that he provided money to undercover people who posed as drug dealers. He spent eight months in prison and was released in March 2017.

Responding to the claims on Sunday, Farage said there was “nothing wrong” and was considering a counter-argument to The Sunday Times.

On Monday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, a friend of Farage, appeared to support the politician by writing on his Truth Social page by sharing a link to an article with the title: “They are running a 2024 anti-Trump book on Nigel Farage.”

Why are some parties refusing to contest elections?

The ruling Labor Party and the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have both accused Farage of “playing games” and said he would not field a candidate in the election.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Farage’s announcement was “very difficult” because the Reform politician was “up to his neck”. The Labor Party has already referred Cottrell’s case to the Electoral Commission.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC: “No one will be attracted to Nigel Farage’s politics because he wants to enforce laws that affect everyone.”

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, said her party “will not stand for the false election that Farage is introducing to distract people from what is going on”.

Even though the MPs will not stand for the duration of the election, they will resume if he takes his seat again, which he is expected to do.

HHe won more than 40 percent of the vote in Clacton in 2024 and will be unopposed by the main parties in 2026.

If he is re-elected, he could still be suspended and another election could be called in Clacton, this time without him as a councillor.

What has Reform UK said about all this?

Reform UK has been somewhat of a snub in the middle of this scandal.

Deputy leader Richard Tice told the UK’s TALK channel that Farage would “get a big turnout” in the election and the numbers would “convince all voters that more people want to vote for Nigel and Reform because they know Britain is broken”.

Writing on X, the party said: “For too long the establishment at Westminster has passed judgment on the political integrity of Nigel Farage.”

“It is time for the people of Clacton to decide,” it added.

Reform has also said it will pay for snap elections in Clacton which critics say are aimed at defying what they say is a waste of taxpayers’ money.