LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 7: Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage announces his resignation as a member of parliament while giving a statement on his “future in public life” at Millbank Tower on July 7, 2026 in London, England. Farage added that he would stand in the by-election triggered by his resignation. The remarks came amid renewed scrutiny over financial support he received ahead of his election as Clacton MP. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party, announced Tuesday that he will step down from parliament to fight a “people versus the establishment” special election.
Farage — an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and a high-profile figure in British politics — resigned as a lawmaker amid growing criticism of his financial arrangements.
Farage has been subject to an investigation by the U.K. Parliament’s standards commissioner since May, after he failed to declare a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from Christopher Harborne, a cryptocurrency investor and Reform party donor, before his election to parliament in 2024.
At the weekend, The Sunday Times reported that the Reform leader also received financial support from George Cottrell, a political ally who was convicted of wire fraud in the U.S. in 2017.
In a statement Tuesday, Farage said parliamentary standards were being used as “a political tool” against him, adding that the voters of his constituency, Clacton, “should be the judges.”
“The establishment has now decided that they can’t beat us fairly… they have chosen to use foul means,” Farage said, having earlier described scrutiny of his finances as an “establishment hit job.”
What is Donald Trump’s connection to Nigel Farage?
Trump appeared to back Farage on Monday, when he posted on Truth Social an article headlined “They’re Running the 2024 Anti-Trump Playbook on Nigel Farage”.
That comes despite suggestions of a rift between the two in recent months, after Farage failed to secure a meeting with the president when he travelled to Mar-a-Lago in March.
Farage has led the populist right-wing Reform UK party since 2024, following his election to parliament in that year’s general election.
Reform UK has been ahead in most U.K. opinion polls since April 2025, suggesting the party is on course to win the country’s next general election, due no later than Aug. 15, 2029, and potentially form the next government with Farage as prime minister.
A key figure in the campaign for the U.K. to withdraw from the European Union, Farage had previously been a lawmaker in the European Parliament, where he forged a reputation as a fierce critic of the EU and its institutions.
He earlier led the UK Independence Party, or UKIP, from 2006 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2016, before resigning as leader following the successful Brexit vote.
