Nigel Farage drops bombshell assertion with Reform UK chief resigning as MP
Nigel Farage promised he would release a major statement on his “future” at 2pm after the Reform UK leader has face increased scrutiny over claims over his financial support
Nigel Farage has said he will make a statement on his future in public life having informed his followers on X that he was due to drop a bombshell statement at 2pm today (July 7).
The Reform UK Leader has shockingly quit as an MP in a lengthy public statement after stating he “absolutely obeyed” the rules about how MPs ought to behave. He said the last straw was an issue around his daughter being the “last straw” in his decision to resign.
However, Farage will now stand in the by-election that he just triggered with his resignation. Farage said he will force “a people versus the Establishment” by-election in which he will stand.
He said: “The issue with my daughter was the final straw. Enough is enough. And I thought over the weekend, what shall I do? I could go out and try and make some real big money. I could go to the USA, where I’ve got plenty of offers. And then I thought, why should I be judged today, or in history in the future, by Sky News and their ilk?
“Why should they be the people that decide my fate? When, as I repeat, I have done nothing wrong. I thought about it hard and I have decided today I will resign as a Member of Parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a by-election, which should happen, I hope, in short order.
“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. It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire Establishment to frankly tell them where to go, and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election.
“I will fight to win. I will fight to continue the political revolution that Reform has started, and I would say this to you, the voters of Clacton, if I win, you win, because if I lose, they win, and we will never with the two old parties get the type of fundamental change that we need to fix broken Britain.”
He reflected on his win as MP for Clacton and his gains with the party before stating he has done nothing wrong with questions other financial support. He also stated that it cost him financial to join as an MEP to take back control from the European Union.
The Reform UK leader said: “Parliament has its rules about how Members ought to behave, and I believe I’ve absolutely obeyed those rules, and done so under getting good legal advice. The standards rules are clear, this is what they say: The code applies to members in all aspects of their public life. It does not seek to regulate what members do in their purely personal lives.
“Though it would seem from the last couple of years, from the way I have been treated, that the press would rather our Members of Parliament had no assets and no wealth at all. They seem to fundamentally object to any MP that has outside income. Indeed, they view those that have continuing business interests with severe, severe scepticism. Making money is not a crime.”
Farage said he gave up career in the City “at a huge cost” to be a member of the European parliament and to campaign for Brexit.
He then added that he had since made a lot of money in the last decade, saying: “Yes, over the last 10 years I have financially done well, but that of itself should not be looked upon as a crime, and yes, I had the equivalent of a lottery win, a large personal gift, and I’ll come to that, and the details of that in just a second.”
Farage’s statement comes after he facing intense scrutiny over financial support given to him by a convicted fraudster, and a £5 million gift from a Reform UK donor.
The Reform UK leader is under pressure following reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided funding for security and staffing in the year before he was elected.
Labour has asked the Electoral Commission to investigate whether the support should have been declared because Farage was a prominent figure in Reform even before he returned to frontline politics.
The party also questioned whether Montenegro-based Mr Cottrell was a permissible donor, claiming it was not clear whether he was on a UK electoral register at the time.
Farage, who is already facing a parliamentary investigation over a £5m gift he received from Reform donor Christopher Harborne before he became an MP, said in a post on X: “I will make a statement on my future in public life at 2pm.”
Under rules in place at the time of Mr Farage’s election in 2024, new MPs were required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.
Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley wrote to the Electoral Commission to call for an investigation. She said: “It is now abundantly clear that Mr Farage may have not only broken Parliamentary rules, he may have broken the law.
“Farage can’t brazenly brush this off as being ‘none of your business’ any longer. He needs to own his self-inflicted scandal and prove he’s not been secretly breaking the rules and taking the British public for fools.”
Farage said he has “done no wrongdoing” after The Sunday Times investigation into his ties with Mr Cottrell.
The Reform leader on Sunday (July 5) also issued a statement insisting he had not broken any rules. He said: “I have done no wrongdoing, followed the rules and I am now considering legal action against The Sunday Times.
“It’s now clear the establishment will stop at nothing to hurt Reform – we want to smash their cosy consensus.”
Farage reacted angrily when approached at an airport by a Sky News journalist asking whether it had been a mistake not to declare gifts from Mr Cottrell.
“You tell your bosses, you harass my family any more… serious consequences. That’s what your organisation has done this morning. Go away,” he said.
Sky said it had not contacted anyone from Farage’s family about the story. He also wrote a message on X about the incident at the airport with Sky News.
Farage wrote: “This is an outright lie from @SkyNews. They hounded my daughter at home, just days after The Times published where my family live. Despicable behaviour from the media.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
