Nigel Farage’s attempt to draw the sting from inquiries into his financial affairs appeared to have backfired on Friday as the standards watchdog reopened its investigation and MPs from all sides condemned the needless byelection.
The Reform UK leader declared victory in the Clacton vote as he was returned with an increased majority and gained more votes than in 2024, saying he had “stuck two fingers up at the entire political establishment”.
However, parliament’s standards commissioner immediately reopened an investigation into whether he should have declared a series of gifts provided to him shortly before the last general election.
These include a £5m personal gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, first revealed by the Guardian, and further financial support from his friend and convicted fraudster George Cottrell.
Rival parties said the reopening of the inquiry showed Farage’s attempt to avoid scrutiny had failed, with the Labour party chair, Bridget Phillipson, saying he now had “no hiding place” as he tries to “dodge and deflect” criticism.
But at an event to celebrate his win, the Reform UK leader attempted to diminish the significance of the allegations under investigation.
He told GB News: “If I’ve made one sin, it’s that I haven’t filled in a piece of paper. I’ve broken no law, I’ve broken no tax law, I’ve taken no public money … maybe I haven’t filled in a piece of paper. I’m confident I’m right, let’s see where we go.”
While playing down the inquiry, Farage also appeared to acknowledge the watchdog could well find against him over his failure to be transparent. If a separate standards committee of MPs recommend a sanction of more than 10 days of suspension from parliament, it could then trigger a second byelection.
This would require the approval of more than 10% of the electorate of Clacton – about 7,800 voters – which is less than the number who voted for Farage’s main rival, the satirical candidate Count Binface.
Farage also faced criticism for failing to turn up to the Clacton count in Essex, saying he had been told by police of an organised attempt at disruption.
However, police said they had given no advice to any candidate not to attend and it emerged that an anonymous art collective flashmob in masks were demonstrating 15 minutes away from the venue at Clacton town hall.
At a separate event, Farage gave an explanation for failing to attend the count saying he was “damned” if he was going to stand on a stage to be “demeaned and humiliated by nobodies”. It was not clear if he was talking about the array of more than 30 independent candidates who stood against him or the possibility of a protest.
Tim Montgomerie, a Reform UK commentator and supporter, was among those to criticise his non-appearance.
“He should be on every TV screen this morning,” said Montgomerie, “underlining his win – and with that cheeky, trademark smile on his face … his recently far too dominant aggrieved tone is still with us.
“It’s not good. You don’t skip your own victory count without a much better explanation. Anger from politicians can work but only if it’s on behalf of others – not yourself. He’s distracting from his victory.”
Farage called the byelection early in July saying he wanted voters in Clacton to decide if he was fit to be an MP. However, the stunt did not go to plan after all the main parties declined to stand, leaving him taking on dozens of novelty and fringe candidates, most prominent among them Count Binface.
According to one report, Farage called his own byelection after his team advised that leaving parliament would end the investigation. In fact it only pauses such processes, which resume if the person is re-elected.
Farage has said the investigation was “being used as a political tool”. One Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, called the process a “kangaroo court”.
Lee Anderson, the chair of Reform, said on Friday it was a “fair comment” to describe the parliamentary standards process as a kangaroo court and argued that there were questions over whether it would be impartial.
Farage is expected to be interviewed by the standards commissioner when parliament returns but it is not certain when the investigation will conclude.
Labour said on Friday that the resumption of the investigation showed Farage could not outrun questions about his finances, with at least 10 questions still outstanding, including whether Harborne had given money to any other Reform-linked figures.
Phillipson said: “He forced a byelection he didn’t need to have. He stood again. He spent most of the summer chasing a bin around Clacton.
“And now he’s going to come back to parliament and have to answer some very serious questions, questions he’s been seeking to dodge, distracting and deflecting from the £5m … gift, his connections to a convicted fraudster.
“You know, the scandal just keeps piling up. And now he’s through that byelection, there’s no hiding place.”
A Conservative party spokesperson said the byelection was a “farce started by Nigel Farage to try to dodge scrutiny of his fishy £5m personal donation”.
“All Farage can brag about this morning is beating a bloke with a bin on his head. What he should do is answer the serious outstanding questions about why he hid his £5m from the public,” the spokesperson said.
The Reform UK leader won the contest with more than 22,000 votes – or 63% – on a turnout of 44%.
Friends of Farage suggested he would not be taking much of a break and intended to throw himself back into Reform campaigning and building up a presence in target seats in case of an early general election.
