Nigel Farage resigns as MP

TT

Updated 15.34 | Published 15.27

 

Nigel Farage makes a statement in London on Tuesday. Photo: Gareth Fuller/Pa Via AP/TT

Nigel Farage, leader of the British right-wing populist party Reform UK, announces that he is resigning as MP for the Clacton constituency.

Farage, an ally of US President Donald Trump, has been MP for Clacton since July 2024. His resignation forces a by-election, in which he will stand.

The announcement comes after it was announced in May that 62-year-old Farage is the subject of a parliamentary investigation into a multi-million-dollar gift he received ahead of the 2024 election. The gift, equivalent to around SEK 65 million from a crypto billionaire, was never reported.

He has also been questioned over a gift from an allied British financier who was jailed for fraud in the US in 2017.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way,” he says in a live speech, accusing the British government and the British media of trying to force him out with the help of lies.

The criticized donations have been private, legal gifts, he claims.

Reform UK has topped many national opinion polls in the past year. The ruling Labour party has lost more and more voters to the immigration-critical party, which has promised mass deportations and increased border security. Farage’s supporters are driven by dissatisfaction with British immigration policy, the NHS and the political establishment in general.

Farage was a driving force behind Britain’s exit from the EU.