Earlier this week, Nigel Farage announced that he would be resigning as the MP for Clacton. This came following the backlash and investigation into his undeclared £5 million donation and further scrutiny of the revelation of his dealings with convicted criminal George Cottrell. Resignation as a result of scandal is a common ritual for politicians. However, Farage decided to do the unusual thing of declaring that he would be running to be re-elected in the by-election he had just triggered. He is essentially leaving it to the people of Clacton to decide whether or not he’s guilty.

The Reform leader is currently being investigated by Parliament’s standards commissioner for an undisclosed £5 million gift that he received from a Thailand- based crypto billionaire shortly before he became an MP. They have also been urged to look into Farage’s decision not to declare financial support he received from convicted fraudster George Cottrell.

The Guardian initially revealed this £5 million gift he received from Reform donor Christopher Harborne in April. Since the revelation, Farage has insisted he did nothing wrong as he had no obligation to declare it. He cites security as his main reason for needing and accepting the gift. This week, The Guardian revealed that the gift had been reported to the UK crime agency over concerns about money laundering.

According to the Guardian’s sources in the financial industry, Farage received the balance of the £ 5 m after he had ruled himself out of standing for parliament in the 2024 election, and shortly before he said he would run for the seat of Clacton in Essex. 

Another revelation that has raised serious questions and added to the scandal is the revelation by The Sunday Times that Farage was being secretly funded by convicted criminal ‘Posh George’ Cottrell. The Times’ investigation found that the Reform leader did not declare benefits, including staff security and housing provided by the crypto gambler. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage insisted in his address to the public. 

Throughout his address, he repeatedly stated this, insisting that he used the money for security reasons, as he claimed to be ‘the most physically and verbally attacked public figure or politician of modern times’. This is untrue given that two sitting MPs have been murdered in the last decade – Jo Cox in 2016 and David Amess six years later. Furthermore, current political figures such as the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, also frequently receive threats and abuse, with the mayor being targeted because of his religion. 

This type of hyperbolic language was the perfect accompaniment for his anti-establishment rhetoric, which he put forward to the people of Clacton. “The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election.” 

He is painting a routine response to suspicious behaviour as a personal attack by the establishment, positioning himself as an innocent victim. Rules and standards are part of the establishment, and so accountability is now framed as an attack.

By leaving his future to the people, he is manufacturing consent for evading accountability and overtly treating politics as a game where the stakes concern his own selfish interest and not the public’s. The cost of his political game will fall to the taxpayer.

Farage did offer for Reform to pay the cost of the by-election (which could exceed £200,000), but a Labour source dismissed the offer outright as it would infringe on the integrity and independence of the by-election.

This Labour source told The Mirror: “A political figure paying for a by-election he is standing in would clearly undermine the independence of the democratic process. It’s baffling that he can’t see that. They added: “He cannot just buy his way out of the mess he’s got himself into. This by-election will be conducted under the same rules as all elections are in the UK. Farage will have to take responsibility for making taxpayers pay the cost of his latest ego trip.”

His resignation means a pause on the investigation, and he seems to be under the impression that his win is consent from the people for this investigation to remain paused. 

However even if he does win, the investigation will resume because he has broken the rules and standards meant to be upheld by all members of parliament and so will be held accountable.

Nonetheless, this decision by the Reform leader to run for re-election may become a really embarrassing one, given that in this upcoming election the ‘establishment’ is a man dressed as a bin. 

After Farage declared he would be running for re-election, the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and Restore Britain all announced they would boycott the election, leaving Count Binface as his only opponent. Count Binface is a satirical candidate whose pledges include abolishing VAR in football, conscripting people who play loud music on public transport and restoring the 99p flakes to 99p.

The “independent space warrior” created by comedian Johnathan Harvey has stood in previous elections against high-profile politicians including Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and, most recently, in the by-election in Makerfield, where he received 95 votes.

Whether Farage wins or loses, the Reform leader can’t be taken seriously or claim to be fighting against the establishment because he now is the establishment and a laughing stock. 

A Labour spokesman said: “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.” They added: “Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, has decided not to stand a candidate in this circus.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer labelled Farage’s move “a desperate stunt”, adding: “It’s obvious why he’s doing it – he is up to his neck in sleaze.”

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey called for parties to boycott the by-election and for the government to block Farage’s resignation until the investigation by the standards committee was completed. 

“We will not be standing a candidate in the fake by-election that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course”, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said. Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: “This is a desperate stunt from a desperate politician whose lifetime of grifting is finally catching up with him. Greens will play no part in his political circus.”

A recent poll conducted by Ipsos revealed that more Britons want Count Binface (33%) to win the by-election than Nigel Farage (21%). Now, a victory for Count Binface isn’t guaranteed as power is now in the hands of the Clacton residents, but what is guaranteed is that Nigel Farage won’t be able to outrun his scandals.

In December 2025, an 18-year-old finance student, Henry Nowak, was brutally murdered by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man. Bodycam footage, released by the police, shows the 18-year-old student being handcuffed and telling police, “I can’t breathe”. The footage also shows his killer claiming he was racially abused by the teen and acted in self-defence, which was a lie. Despite Nowak repeatedly telling the officers he had been stabbed, they dismissed his pleas, handcuffed him, and placed him under arrest.

This negligence of the police officers has been strongly condemned across the UK political landscape, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has since launched an investigation into the force’s response. Digwa, 23, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years.

Following the conviction, Henry’s father gave a noble and moving statement. He asked that his son’s death not be used by politicians as a chance to promote their own agendas. “We don’t want his death used to create further division, hatred or tension,” Mark Nowak said. A family should be able to grieve the loss of their loved one without it being used or weaponised for political gain and civil unrest.

It is becoming increasingly common for high-profile tragedies, such as this one, to be exploited as symbols in wider political discourse. Following the horrific attacks on a children’s holiday dance and yoga session in Southport in 2024, which tragically saw three young girls lose their lives and ten others injured, far-right protestors took to the streets. They clashed with police in Southport and damaged a mosque after misinformation about the attacker’s identity – which had not yet been publicly released – was spread online.

It is therefore commendable that, despite his grief, Henry’s father urged for unity rather than division. Despite his wishes, however, in the rush to advance a cause, score points against opponents, and reinforce existing narratives, these wishes have been ignored, especially by political figures on the right.

It did not take Reform UK leader Nigel Farage long to make this horrific incident about himself and incite violent riots on the streets of Southampton. In a video posted on social media addressing the distressing incident, Nigel Farage made several claims that have drawn widespread political and public criticism. He repeated the words of Henry, “I can’t breathe”, and drew parallels with George Floyd, whom he described as a “career criminal”. 

Many people strongly rejected Farage’s comparison, pointing out the fundamental difference between the two cases. George Floyd was killed directly by a law enforcement officer who knelt on his neck, whereas a civilian murdered Henry Nowak. Ultimately, Farage used Floyd’s name as a culture war dog whistle to ignite racial divisions and grievances among white citizens.

Farage also claimed that there is two tier policing in the UK. He believes that British institutions, including the police, are biased against White Britons. However, available evidence does not support this belief. Government statistics show that white defendants, on average, serve a lower custodial sentence than other ethnicities. Black prisoners serve a greater proportion of their original sentence than other ethnic groups, while Black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups were more likely to be stopped and searched in London last year.

In his video, he also suggested that “It is time to respond with pure cold rage”. This is a sharp contrast to the message he put out after Sarah Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan Police constable. When this happened, he tweeted, “We must not allow the tragic murder of a young woman to turn into attacks on men and attacks on the police.” This difference in tone illustrates that Farage tends to adopt a politically convenient approach when it comes to addressing these incidents.

Following Farage’s message, on Tuesday evening, hundreds of people, including Tommy Robinson, gathered and took part in a demonstration outside Southampton Central Police Station before gathering close to the family home of Vickrum Digwa in St Denys. 

The demonstration soon turned violent and clashed with police, throwing bricks and other projectiles and injuring 11 officers. The far right tends to portray itself as a victim or as on the side of victims as a tool to promote its political ends. This is exactly what Henry’s father did not want. The fact that his wishes were so blatantly ignored illustrates that Nigel Farage clearly does not care about the victim. For Farage, the facts are less important than the narrative, and it is in this way that the victim is dehumanised.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pointed this out in PMQs on Wednesday. “Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying ‘please don’t’ is unforgivable,” the Prime Minister said after Nigel Farage reinforced his divisive message. 

Suella Braverman, a former Tory MP who defected to Reform UK, tweeted “white lives matter”, further intensifying the racial tension surrounding the tragedy. “White Lives Matter” is a reactionary slogan to the Black Lives Matter movement and has often been used by far-right activists or white nationalist groups. By invoking this slogan, Suella Braverman helped to deepen divisions and shift focus away from the wishes of Henry’s family and the specific facts of the case.

The far right is homogenising the actions of one individual and projecting them onto an entire group, playing on people’s fears and anxieties. The actions of one person should never be used to characterise an ethnic group. The fact that the person who committed this horrific crime was non-white and from an ethnic minority background does not mean that all ethnic minorities in the UK should be held accountable for those actions. 

People are allowed to be frustrated with the actions of the police. Citizens have every right to debate whether institutions apply standards fairly, whether communities are protected equally, and whether government responses are adequate. But those debates require evidence, restraint and empathy. They should not be used as an excuse to spread racism and discriminate against entire groups of people.

The violent scenes in Southampton do not help anyone. Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Donna Jones said Henry Nowak’s family were “disappointed” to see the violent protests.