A humiliated Nigel Farage faces a summer “fighting a bin” as Rachel Reeves confirmed she would not block his resignation as an MP, allowing him to fight his by-election in Clacton.
But the Reform UK leader’s hopes of turning the contest into a battle “against the establishment” were in tatters as all other major parties announced they would be boycotting the vote, leaving comedic candidate Count Binface as his leading opponent.
In an archaic quirk of the parliamentary system, the chancellor must give permission for an MP to stand down by granting his request to be made steward and bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.
But despite ministers urging Ms Reeves to follow a precedent set in 1842 of a chancellor preventing an MP from resigning while under investigation over financial matters – as Mr Farage currently is – Ms Reeves said she would allow the contest to go ahead.
She said: “If [Mr Farage] wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.”
Reform has said it will move the writ on Thursday for the by-election to take place on 6 August.
It came as a new poll put Reform UK in third place in terms of the number of projected seats expected to be won at a general election, making it appear that Mr Farage had lost control of the political narrative for the first time in two years.
The Electoral Calculus MRP poll put Labour and Reform level on 22 per cent of the national vote, with the Conservatives close behind on 20 per cent.
However, the seat projection placed Labour on 217 seats, the Tories on 151 and Reform on 127 – suggesting Reform has fallen back into third place, with Restore Britain now cutting into its support on the right.
Meanwhile, bookmakers William Hill named Count Binface as second favourite in the Clacton by-election and slashed the comedian’s odds to 9/2.
Mr Farage dramatically quit and called the by-election on Monday in what he claimed was him “putting two fingers up to the establishment”.
He claimed that he was the subject of a “stitch up” after parliamentary standards inquiries launched to probe a £5m donation he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, and gifts from his close confidante and convicted fraudster George Cottrell, after claims they had not been declared as required.
Mr Farage, who is also facing a potential investigation from the Electoral Commission, insisted: “I have done nothing wrong,” and said he would be judged by the people of Clacton.
Meanwhile, in an interview with GB News, the channel which still employs him as a presenter, an increasingly rattled Mr Farage lashed out, claiming he was being portrayed as if he were “a war criminal”.
It came as he became a figure of fun and a laughing stock inside and outside the Commons over his upcoming contest with Count Binface.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch dubbed Count Binface “the people’s candidate”, while a spokesperson for the Tories refused to say if party activists who campaigned for him would be punished.
She confirmed that the Tories will run a candidate if there is a second by-election in Clacton caused by a recall petition if Mr Farage is found guilty of breaking rules on donations at a later stage.
Andy Burnham, seen as Labour’s prime minister-in-waiting, posted a tweet of him shaking hands with Count Binface, saying: “Always remember bin day.”
Meanwhile, Burton and Uttoxeter MP Jacob Collier tweeted a picture of a street with wheelie bins lined up, saying: “Lots of support for Count Binface already.”
In the 2024 general election, Mr Farage won 46 per cent of the vote but recent by-elections in Caerphilly, Gorton and Denton, and Makerfield have shown Reform is vulnerable to tactical voting.
Mr Farage, who has been criticised for spending little time in the Essex constituency, spent the day in Clacton meeting voters.
Earlier, during Prime Minister’s Questions, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper asked deputy prime minister David Lammy to support a change in the law to prevent MPs under investigation from quitting to force a by-election, dubbing it “the Clacton clause”. The party had earlier written to Ms Reeves asking her to block his resignation.
She said: “The member for Clacton [Mr Farage] used to say, ‘Leave means leave.’ But it seems that his latest stunt is to leave this place just so that he can return as a fully-fledged member after not just one referendum on his behaviour, but possibly two.
“Will the deputy prime minister support our ‘Clacton clause’, so that, even once the Hon Member ceases to be an MP, the investigations can continue?”
Mr Lammy responded: “Everyone can see that the Reform leader is just trying to distract from the fact that he is up to his neck in sleaze. He has serious questions to answer, and he cannot run away from them. Labour is not going to be part of this circus.
“I hear it is the people versus the establishment: the city trader, Putin-admiring, professional politician who is pals with crypto billionaires, versus Count Binface. There have been unqualified joke candidates in the past – let’s see what the people of Clacton decide.”
