Nigel Farage resigned as the MP for Clacton, triggering a byelection after scrutiny over the Binance Count and an alleged undeclared £5m gift from Christopher Harborne. The move pauses Parliament’s investigation into whether that payment should have been declared.
Farage said he had “never been angrier” and told his supporters: “I have decided that the people of Clacton will be the judges of my actions.” He added: “This will be a people versus the establishment byelection.”
Clacton and the £5m gift
reported that Harborne, described in the brief as a crypto billionaire, gave Farage the £5m within 12 months of his becoming an MP in summer 2024. Parliament is examining whether that money should have been declared under the rules that govern money linked to an MP’s public role.
Farage denies that the £5m gift should have been declared. The same scrutiny has also drawn in allegations that he took undeclared funding for staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell, widening the questions around how money linked to his work was handled.
Voters in Clacton
Voters in Clacton now face a byelection after Farage stepped down from the seat he won two years ago with 46.2% of the vote. The Conservatives took 27.9%, Labour 16.2% and The Liberal Democrats 4.4%, leaving the contest closely watched before the resignation.
Farage framed the vote as a test between Reform UK and its opponents, but the immediate effect is procedural: the seat is vacant and the parliamentary inquiry is on hold while Clacton prepares to choose a new MP.
Parliament and scrutiny
The unresolved issue is whether Parliament will treat the £5m Harborne payment, and the separate Cottrell allegations, as money that should have been declared. Farage’s resignation does not answer that question; it changes the forum, delays the inquiry and puts the decision in front of voters in Clacton.
