How much Farage’s Clacton by-election could cost the taxpayer revealed as Reform leader quits as MP

Nigel Farage’s shock decision to resign and run again in the Clacton constituency could cost taxpayers more than a quarter of a million pounds. Independent He found it.

The Reform UK leader has resigned as an MP amid two ongoing investigations by the parliamentary standards watchdog into undeclared gifts worth millions of pounds.

In a video statement outlining his plans, Mr Farage insisted: “I did nothing wrong. I did not break the law in any way.”

He added that he would now stand in the “order against the people” by-election in the Essex constituency he has represented since the 2024 general election.

Sir Keir Starmer said the move was a “desperate display” by “a man who is shabby up to his neck”, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch derided Mr Farage’s decision as a “rapid adjustment”.

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The high-risk political demonstration could cost the taxpayer £275,046 in election costs, which will be funded by central government. This figure is based on the cost of the 2014 Clacton by-election, totaling £193,463 after 12 years of inflation is taken into account.

Reform UK, which covered X after his speech was published, said his party had offered to cover the costs of the by-election, something not allowed under election laws.

Mr Farage wrote: “Given that we wanted this by-election in the first place, it is only right that we pay for it.”

In the United Kingdom, all parliamentary elections and by-elections are funded by the government, unlike local elections which are funded by the local council.

Information on the cost of by-elections is occasionally recorded. But data produced by the government in 2010 revealed that the average cost of a parliamentary by-election was £228,964; this rises to £323,254 today when inflation is taken into account.

The budget for June’s Makerfield by-election, which was triggered by former Labor MP Josh Simons resigning his seat to allow Andy Burnham to stand in the by-election and return to Westminster to challenge the Labor leadership, was £226,208.

But both figures are dwarfed by the expected cost of a mayoral race in Greater Manchester to replace Mr Burnham; This figure reached 4 million 719 thousand 754 pounds when the seat was last contested in 2024. In this case, the bill is covered by the unified authority. Voters in the region will go to the polls on July 30 to determine Burnham’s successor.

But the Greater Manchester seat, with just over two million registered voters, is much larger than Clacton or Makerfield constituencies. Makerfield has 76,517 voters while Clacton has 75,959, meaning the cost of voting won’t be as high.

The latest drama surrounding Mr Farage emerged as he announced the start of a second standard investigation into his personal finances. It follows reports that his long-time ally George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster, provided undisclosed funds for security and staff in the year before Mr Farage was elected.

Earlier this year, it was also reported that Mr Farage received a £5 million “gift” from billionaire Reform donor Christopher Harborne, which he claimed was for his personal security.

House of Commons rules state that new MPs must register gifts worth more than £300 received in the previous 12 months unless the gift “could not reasonably be attributed by others to their political activities”.

The law states that “purely personal gifts or benefits” from partners or family members do not need to be recorded.

In both cases, Mr Farage maintains that the gifts received were used for purely personal purposes.

In his speech on Tuesday, the reform leader claimed parliamentary observers’ investigations were “being used as a political tool” against him.

Parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg’s investigation into both donations will now be suspended due to Mr Farage’s resignation, but will continue if he wins the by-election and becomes an MP again.

Concluding his speech, the Clacton MP said he “will not be judged” by the media, adding: “I have decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.

“This is a chance to put my two fingers out there to tell the entire institution clearly where they’re going to go, and that’s why I’m going to put my name forward to run in this by-election.”