Nigel Farage’s big by-election gamble is at risk of backfiring today after the main parties vowed to ignore the ‘stunt’.

The Reform leader called for a ‘people versus the establishment’ contest amid a flurry of questions about his finances and an undeclared £5million gift from a crypto-billionaire.

The vote in the Clacton constituency is expected to be formally triggered later, potentially taking place next month. 

But Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain have all now refused to stand.

Instead they will wait for the result of an investigation by the independent standards commissioner, which could force another by-election in a few months’ time.

That means that Mr Farage could be left fighting it out over the summer with novelty candidate Count Binface, who joked: ‘Game on, Nige.’ 

Nigel Farage’s big by-election gamble is at risk of backfiring today after the main parties vowed to ignore the ‘stunt’

Mr Farage could be left fighting it out with novelty candidate Count Binface (pictured at the Makerfield by-election), who joked: ‘Game on, Nige.’

Count Binface is already hamming up the prospect of his showdown with Mr Farage 

Mr Farage is being investigated by parliamentary watchdog Daniel Greenberg over a £5million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he has suggested was needed to fund his personal security. 

The Reform leader also appeared to confirm he was facing another probe over support provided by convicted fraudster George Cottrell after a Sunday Times investigation.

Long-term ally Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.

New MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift ‘could not be reasonably thought by others’ to relate to their political activities.

Mr Greenberg’s investigation will be suspended after Mr Farage’s resignation, but will resume if he returns to Parliament.

If he is found to have breached the rules and is suspended for more than 10 sitting days, it could trigger a recall petition – potentially leading to another Clacton by-election.

The MP maintains he has done nothing wrong and has accused Westminster opponents of using sleaze investigations as a ‘political tool’ and the media of ‘haranguing’ his family.

After announcing he was making a statement on his ‘future in public life’, Mr Farage was flanked by Union flags as he delivered a speech on camera lasting more than 20 minutes – without taking any questions.

‘This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire Establishment to frankly tell them where to go, and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election,’ he said.

Leaving Reform’s HQ afterwards Mr Farage acknowledged it was a ‘big gamble’. 

But Kemi Badenoch said her party would not take part in a ‘fake by-election that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening’.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the people of Clacton need ‘all the facts’ before they can decide whether they want to keep him as their MP – urging the Government to block Mr Farage’s resignation.

Labour decried the contest as a ‘gimmick’, while the Greens confirmed they would also not field a candidate.  

The Reform leader said he had offered for the party pay the cost of the vote – thought to be around £350,000 – after criticism that it was a waste of taxpayer money.

But the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government poured cold water on the idea, as it is banned under anti-corruption rules.

An MHCLG spokesman said: ‘To maintain the independence and impartiality of the electoral process, the law is clear that the cost of running elections must be met from public funds, and not by candidates or political parties.

‘Individuals or groups can, of course, make voluntary donations to the Consolidated Fund in the normal way, but these are not ring-fenced to pay for specific costs or events.’

A report in the Guardian that bankers filed a suspicious activity report (SAR) with the National Crime Agency in May 2024 over concerns the gift from Christopher Harborne could be laundered money has raised further questions.

Mr Farage told the newspaper he did not know about the SAR and said he had no reason to doubt the ultimate source of the money.

Polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice said the forthcoming by-election could turn out to be a damp squib.

He compared it to David Davis’s decision to call a by-election in Yorkshire in 2008 over the extension of detention without trial, where the Tory MP was returned unopposed. 

Kemi Badenoch said her party would not take part in a ‘fake by-election that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening’

Tory MPs have been getting behind Count Binface for the by-election clash 

Asked whether he thinks Mr Farage’s resignation is a ‘gamble that will pay off’, Sir John told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: ‘Well, it depends on what you think he’s trying to achieve.

‘I think certainly his hope that he would have a by-election in which he would be taking on all of the other political parties, that therefore it would be quite a substantial political circus that would receive a great deal of attention, it looks as though that’s not going to happen, because it’s a bit like somebody saying, ‘come on, let’s go and play football’, but then none of the other kids are willing to play.

‘And, to that extent, at least, it will probably result in much the same relatively damp squib that it was in Haltemprice and Howden.

‘That said, two things – of course Mr Farage will be arguing, it just goes to show the other parties are afraid of me, they’re not willing to challenge me.

‘It does mean he’s got himself back in the headlines. Reform are still ahead in the opinion polls, but with the slight boost for Labour in the wake of the resignation of Keir Starmer, and the fact that support for Reform has been edging down slowly. He would be hoping that the publicity will help to push him up.

‘But this second thing, however, and I think this is one of the risks he’s taken, is that given he is saying I want the people of Clacton to judge my actions, and particularly two controversial sources of support that have been the subject of recent media attention – presumably he’s going to be willing to talk about this during the by-election.’