Nigel Farage tells friends he fears 'facing by-election' if found to have broken rules over his £5m from gift crypto billionaire
The Reform UK leader faces a range of potential sanctions if found to have broke Parliamentary rules
Nigel Farage has reportedly told friends he fears facing a by-election if found to have broken Parliamentary rules.
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Getty
Nigel Farage is reportedly fearing having to face a by-election if he is found to have broken rules over his £5 million gift from a Thai-based crypto billionaire. The Reform UK leader is under investigation by the Parliament’s Standards Commissioner into whether he should have declared the payment.Potential punishment if found to have breached the rules varies from an apology in front of the House of Commons to a suspension.But if banned for ten more days, Mr Farage would face a potential recall petition, which is a process that can trigger a by-election in Clacton, Essex, if at least ten per cent of voters in a constituency sign the petition.Read more: Farage was paid £270k for 12 hours of work promoting gold bullionRead more: PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham targets Rochdale grooming gang ringleader with new deportation drive
Mr Farage has told friends that he is worried about the prospect of facing a by-election in the seat, according to an insider, the i Paper reports.The 62-year-old stormed to victory in Clacton in 2024 with an 8,405-vote majority, meaning overturning it would require a substantial swing away from Reform.However, the paper reports that Farage has been surprised that the row over the £5m gift appears to have been received with voters.Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast last month, Mr Farage launched a staunch defence, insisting he was under no obligation to declare what he spent the money on.Asked by Nick what he has spent the money on, Mr Farage replied: "With all due respect what’s it got to do with you?
The Reform leader has been grilled over the scandal.
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"It’s an unconditional gift. I can spend it on Ferraris if I want. It’s entirely up to me."He has previously insisted that the gift, which he failed to declare after becoming an MP, was given on an unconditional basis.Challenged over why he initially said it was for his personal security, and then saying it was a reward for Brexit, Mr Farage said: "What I will say to you is, I know that I will need protection until I die."I have no idea how long that will be, but I know that it’s damned expensive and I now don’t have to worry or even think about that.“I can do with it as I wish but I know myself what it’s for."
Asked again what he spent it on, he said: "I bought a coffee this morning. These are ridiculous questions."Earlier this week, the party's former chairman Dr David Bull suggested Mr Farage should take "a break" from politics after facing the criticism.Dr David Bull said: "Politics is a ruthless business, and I think also one of the other things I would say to [him] as a friend and a colleague is he needs to take some time out and have a bit of a break, really."A Reform spokesperson said: "Mr Farage has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules have been broken."
