Examining Farage’s claim to have filed zero 'personal' MP expensespublished at 19:20 BST

19:20 BST

By Lucy Gilder

Defending his record as an MP, Nigel Farage said "for the first two years of being an MP, my personal MP expenses are zero".

It is unclear what Farage means by "personal" expenses and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) - which regulates MPs expenses - says "MPs may only access IPSA funding for costs they or their staff incur as a result of their parliamentary functions".

This includes costs related to their office, staffing, accommodation in London or their constituency, and travel between Parliament and their constituency, external.

It also makes clear that politicians "can’t claim for personal costs", such as food and drink during the working day, external. Although there are plenty of MPs who claim for accommodation, Farage does not.

Farage claimed £4,800.34 in office expenses during the 2025-26 financial year, external, according to figures published by IPSA.

This included costs for stationery, printing, and other office equipment. No other categories of cost are listed for this period.

In 2024-25 he claimed £5,515.30 in office costs and £150,834.40 for staffing.

Image source, PA Media

Since Nigel Farage announced this afternoon that he will trigger a by-election and stand again in his Clacton seat, a number of parties have come out and said they will not stand a candidate in such circumstances.

Here's what we've heard:

• A Labour spokesperson says the party will not stand a candidate, calling the by-election a "circus"
• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives will not stand a candidate in Farage's "fake by-election"
• Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has called for all parties to "stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project"
• Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe says his party will not participate in "a Reform-sponsored media circus"
• The Green Party has not yet confirmed whether it will put forward a candidate. A spokesman says it was a decision for local members in Clacton but adds: "We are a political party - we contest elections"

Reform UK's Robert Jenrick tells the BBC that if other parties are "too chicken to stand, that says more about them than us".

Meanwhile, our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman writes that there is a precedent for an MP prompting a by-election in their seat which they then contest but others boycott.

In 2008, the Haltemprice and Howden by-election - which Conservative David Davis forced in order to spark a debate about civil liberties - went ignored by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

What Parliament’s rules say about MPs registering giftspublished at 18:37 BST

18:37 BST

By Anthony Reuben

In his statement earlier, Nigel Farage said: "Parliament has its rules about how members ought to behave and I believe I have absolutely obeyed those rules."

The Reform UK leader has been under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for not registering a £5m gift from billionaire donor Christopher Harborne that he received before he was elected as MP for Clacton in 2024.

Now that he is resigning from Parliament, triggering a by-election in which he intends to stand, that investigation will be paused.

The parliamentary rules say, external that new MPs have one month "to register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election".

There is an exemption for "purely personal gifts or benefits from partners or family members", but the guidance says "both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered".

Farage claims the money was given to him to spend as he wished but that it would allow him to fund his security for the rest of his life. He did not declare the gift - it was brought to light by a Guardian investigation, external, which reported Farage received the money in 2024.

A short while ago we also heard from Nigel Farage again, who briefly spoke to the media as he left Reform UK's offices in London.

Put to him by reporters that he's taken big gambles in the past and asked whether this was a stunt, Farage says: "It's a big gamble."

"See you all in Clacton - in the summer, " he says. "It'll be marvellous won't it? It'll be lovely."

A Labour Party spokesperson says: “Nigel Farage is engulfed in a sleaze scandal and he’s desperately trying to change the subject.

"It’s pathetic, and the Labour Party is not going to indulge it. Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee, has decided not to stand a candidate in this circus.

"Instead, Labour will remain focused on delivering for working people and holding Reform to account.

"Farage should let the parliamentary investigation into his finances run its course and face the consequences."

Labour's national executive committee (NEC) will be meeting this evening to determine whether it will be putting forward a candidate in the Clacton by-election, the party's chair has said.

Anna Turley MP tells Radio 4's PM programme that the party is considering its options for the vote, with the Conservatives and Restore Britain saying they will not put forward a candidate, and the Lib Dems saying "all parties should stand aside".

Turley says: "I think that's certainly going to be one of the options on the table because why should we all dance to Farage's tune?"

She says Farage has called the by-election to create "a distraction" from questions posed to him about "the money he's received" and "who he is associating with".

Image source, Pool

Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch has just spoken to broadcasters, accusing Nigel Farage of "having a hissy fit".

She says Farage is calling a "fake by-election to run away from a standards investigation".

She says the Conservatives will stand a candidate in the "real by-election" which she says will come at a later date after a standards investigation has taken place.

She calls Farage's announcement today a "gimmick", accusing him of "running away from scrutiny".

How Clacton has voted in past electionspublished at 17:55 BST

17:55 BST

By Aidan McNamee

At the 2024 general election Reform UK won four seats, including for Nigel Farage’s election as Clacton MP with 46% of the vote.

The result was a major setback for the Conservatives, whose vote share collapsed after they won 72% of the vote in 2019, before the constituency’s boundaries were redrawn.

Clacton was also the scene of the UK Independence Party’s (UKIP) first Westminster election win in 2014, when the anti-EU party was under Farage's leadership.

UKIP won the seat after Douglas Carswell resigned as a Conservative MP, defected to Farage's party and triggered a by-election.

Carswell held Clacton at the 2015 general election, before the Conservatives regained it in 2017.

Farage still faces scrutiny but has seized the agendapublished at 17:26 BST

17:26 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor

We are in for a split screen summer.

Andy Burnham, in all likelihood, on one side, as the new prime minister. And Nigel Farage on the other, as the contender in Clacton.

The two men who will shape more than most of the political tussle of the coming years, vying for attention in the coming weeks.

For Farage, a master of political theatre, this move - widely derided as a stunt by his critics - lets him seize attention and the initiative.

His rivals are now forced to respond. The tenor of their reactions so far suggest many, including Labour, may choose not to stand, avoiding - as they may see it - offering walk on actors at Reform’s pantomime.

A by-election was a possible consequence of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ inquiry anyway. This way the Reform leader embraces that challenge rather than having it forced upon him.

He is also attempting to frame it as a question about where power, sovereignty really lies - with the people, or with those he pejoratively labels "the establishment" - including those who have long been widely seen by many as part of the architecture of checks and balances at the heart of our democracy, such as the adjudicators of parliamentary rules and robust journalism.

Nigel Farage hasn’t escaped scrutiny about his conduct. But, not for the first time, he’s grabbed the agenda.

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Westminster

It’s easy to see why Reform would make this offer, as a major criticism already being made of Nigel Farage’s bid to be re-elected is that it is a waste of public money.

What is less clear is whether it would be possible for Reform to do this.

The BBC understands Farage has spoken to the chief executive of Tendring District Council to offer to cover the costs.

But Parliamentary by-elections, like general elections, are paid for out of central government funds.

As to how much it costs to run a by-election, which involves paying for the ballot papers and a salary for the returning officer among other things, the most recent government estimate, from 2016, put it at £228,964.

The cost is certain to have gone up since then.

Lewis Adams and Jodie Halford
Reporting from Essex

Image source, Jodie Halford/BBC

People living in Nigel Farage's constituency have shared mixed feelings of frustration and support after he resigned as their local MP.

Graham Smith said he’d vote for Farage again, saying there had been a campaign against him.

"Everybody who can is trying to poison the political atmosphere against him," said Smith.

"I think he's a breath of fresh air in politics and I really don't care if he's got six houses, after all that's gone on in the Labour party and the Tory party in the past."

Image source, Jodie Halford/BBC

However, 18-year-old Frankie Ashworth said she disagreed with the Reform UK leader on most subjects.

"I don't really want my child to grow up in a country with Nigel Farage being a politician," she said.

"I hope the local people aren't stupid enough to vote him back in and no, I definitely won't be voting for him."

• Read more reactions from Clacton

Brian Wheeler
Reporting from Westminster

Rupert Lowe has said Restore Britain will not be standing in the Clacton by-election triggered by Nigel Farage’s resignation as its MP.

“We are not going to participate in a Reform-sponsored media circus over the summer months that is designed to puff up Farage’s ego and deflect away from wholly fair questions over why he has concealed such vast and irregular financial donations,” he says on X.

But, Lowe adds, Restore will be putting up a candidate in the second by-election, which he says will be held later this year when the Parliamentary authorities conclude their investigation into whether Farage broke the rules on declaring donations.

As we have been discussing, this second by-election is not guaranteed to take place.

If Farage is found to have broken the rules and suspended for more than 10 days, voters in Clacton would be given the option to have another by-election in a recall ballot.

Farage's bet is not risk-freepublished at 16:46 BST

16:46 BST

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

This is clearly an attempt by Nigel Farage to grab the political agenda.

He is challenging the other parties to demonstrate to the electorate that he should be re-elected.

In truth, I think he's making a pretty safe one-way bet. It is a constituency where he had an 18-point lead back in July 2024.

And although Reform is not as popular as they once were, they're still running at around 26% in the opinion polls, well above the 15% that they got in July 2024.

That said, it's not a move without risk. The tactic may fizzle out if his political opponents are not willing to play ball.

Meanwhile, if Farage is going to be fighting this by-election and saying "tell the establishment that all these enquiries are wrong", then presumably he will be willing to answer questions about the gifts from Harborne and Cottrell.

How much does a by-election cost the taxpayer?published at 16:34 BST

16:34 BST

By Tom Edgington

Nigel Farage’s decision to trigger a by-election in Clacton and stand as a candidate could end up costing the taxpayer over £230,000.

While local authorities are responsible for administering Parliamentary by-elections, it’s the UK government which covers the cost.

Each constituency has a maximum cost that returning officers (the people who oversee elections) can claim back in parliamentary elections, with Clacton’s limit set at £237,422 in May 2024., external

The budget includes things like: printing and delivering ballot papers, storing and providing security for ballot boxes and paying people to assist the returning officers.

Farage says Reform UK has offered to cover the by-election’s cost, but it is not clear if this would be accepted.

According to government figures released in 2016, the average cost of a by-election between 2010 and 2016 was £228,964., external

Farage was under investigation by Parliament’s standards commissioner when he announced his resignation as Clacton MP.

If the investigation was to resume and Parliament’s standards committee recommended a suspension of 10 days or longer, which would be voted on by MPs, voters could be given the chance to force another by-election.

It's possible that other parties could boycott Clacton by-electionpublished at 16:25 BST

16:25 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

As we explained earlier, were he to win the Clacton by-election, Nigel Farage would still face an investigation by the Commons standards watchdog into whether he has broken parliamentary rules.

We cannot prejudge the outcome of that investigation, and Farage insists he did nothing wrong.

But if he were found to have broken rules, and received the harsh sanction of a lengthy suspension from the House of Commons, it is possible that a Clacton by-election would be triggered anyway – again with Farage as a candidate.

I am hearing from influential Labour figures this afternoon making the case internally that the party – indeed all major parties – should boycott this by-election, arguing that Clacton’s voters deserve full transparency before they have their say on his future.

There would be precedent for this: the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election which Conservative David Davis forced in order to spark a debate about civil liberties went ignored by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Among the other parties which sat that by-election out was UKIP, then led by a certain Nigel Farage.

The BBC has been speaking to people in Clacton, the constituency at the heart of this by-election, about Farage's announcement today.

“I'm very disappointed because [Farage] promised all these things and he's gone back on his promise,” one woman says.

She adds: “Who can you trust in the government nowadays? You can't trust Labour, you know. We can't trust the Conservatives and now we can't even trust Reform, so I really don't know who I'd vote next time.”

One man says: “I'm absolutely gutted. I thought he was going to run the country and everything was going to be lovely. Don't know what to say other than that.”

Predicting by-election results can be a dangerous gamepublished at 16:12 BST

16:12 BST

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Nigel Farage is triggering a by-election to shore up his position and, as he said in his speech, to "continue the political revolution that Reform has started".

But his critics argue it is a stunt to distract from questions over his personal finances, and ultimately taxpayers will be forced to pick up the bill of holding a vote.

The Reform leader says "the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions", but there is no sign the party's four MPs who defected from the Conservatives will follow suit and let their constituents decide whether to keep them.

And for all Farage's talk of the importance of private sector experience in politics and having "leaders who know how to make money" (and many across the political spectrum agree with him), it is not money he has earned that has made headlines.

Instead it is the gifts and gifts-in-kind he received before entering parliament that journalists and Parliament's standards commissioner are assessing.

Nigel Farage won the Clacton seat in 2024 with a majority of 8,405 and 46% of the vote. His party's dominance in national opinion polls means he goes into this contest as the favourite.

But British politics has changed a lot in recent months, including the rise of Rupert Lowe's right-wing party Restore. What of Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives, who used to hold the seat? And will Andy Burnham's likely leadership of Labour give that party a bounce?

Predicting by-election results can be a dangerous game.

Reform wants this by-election to happen quicklypublished at 16:06 BST

16:06 BST

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the Nato summit

Senior Reform sources are making it clear they want the by-election to happen as soon as possible - and will crack on with the parliamentary formalities to do so quickly.

This will mean Nigel Farage being given a Crown appointment which bars him from being an MP - either Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, or Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.

Once this has happened and the Clacton seat is vacant, the writ can be moved in the Commons to trigger a by-election.

Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says Nigel Farage is "cracking under the pressure" because "he is finally having to face some scrutiny".

But she won't say if her party will contest the Clacton by-election sparked by his resignation.

Speaking at a Politico Playbook live event, she says the by-election will be a "waste of taxpayers' money", and suggests there could end up being two in the Essex seat, if the parliamentary standards commissioner finds against Farage in its investigation.

She suggests there shouldn't be a by-election while the investigation continues, adding that the Tories are exploring "every avenue".

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the Nato summit

Speaking to reporters at the Nato summit in Ankara, Prime Minister Keir Starmer says:

"This is a desperate stunt from Nigel Farage and it's obvious why he's doing it - he is up to his neck in sleaze.

"Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain, not about hiding dodgy donations, and I think the public will see this for exactly what it is."