Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has resigned as an MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election in which he intends to stand again, amid an escalating row over his financial affairs. In an online address he attacked the "Establishment" and the media, said he had "never been angrier" and described himself as the most vilified UK politician of recent times, insisting he wanted voters to "be the judges of my actions". The move matters because it forces a fresh electoral test for a high-profile party leader while unresolved questions hang over his conduct.

Farage now faces two parliamentary standards investigations relating to undeclared cash payments and financial assistance received before he became an MP. He has been reported over claims that his long-term ally George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster nicknamed "Posh George", provided undeclared funding for security and staffing and the use of a Westminster house in the year before his election, while standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg is already examining a £5million gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. Under parliamentary rules, his resignation suspends these inquiries, though they would resume if he is re-elected, potentially prompting a second by-election later in the year. Farage denies any wrongdoing and calls it a "stitch-up", a claim backed by US President Donald Trump.