Nigel Farage, leader of the populist right-wing Reform UK party, has resigned from parliament and will stand for his seat again in a special election, amid mounting controversy over financial donations.
Farage announced the decision to resign as a member of parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, his constituency in Essex, on his YouTube channel Tuesday.
The surprise move appears to be an attempt to tackle recent negative press reports regarding the source of his personal wealth, which is also the subject of an investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog.
In his speech on Tuesday, Farage denied any wrongdoing. “Let me be absolutely clear, I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all,” he said, adding that he believed he had “obeyed” parliamentary rules on “good legal advice.”
“I’ve decided the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage added. “I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started.”
His decision will generate fresh upheaval in British politics, following the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer last month. The ruling Labour Party is expected to appoint a new leader in less than two weeks, most likely the former mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham .
Farage, a chief architect of Brexit, has long been one of the leading voices of Britain’s populist hard-right and – given his party’s recent success in local government elections – a possible future candidate for prime minister.
— This is a developing story and will be updated.
