NIGEL Farage has been told his Clacton by-election win is “no victory” as he returns to the Commons to face a major sleaze probe into dodgy donations.
The MP, who triggered a by-election to "distract" from mounting questions over Reform UK’s finances, was returned to Parliament on Friday but could face yet another contest.
He is expected to be interviewed within weeks by parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a £5 million gift from British-Thai cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, The Times reports.
If Greenberg finds against Farage, he could face a full official probe by the standards committee which could trigger yet another by-election, depending on its findings and recommendations.
The investigation into Farage was suspended when he quit his seat but will resume now he is an MP again.
There are also questions surrounding his failure to declare help from George Cottrell, also known as Posh George and a convicted fraudster.
The financier provided security and social media staff in the year before Farage was first elected to Westminster.
Bridget Phillipson, chair of the Labour Party, said: “Let’s be clear: this is no victory for Nigel Farage. The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.
“This morning, Nigel Farage shouldn’t be celebrating – he should wake up and smell the coffee. He must come clean with the public and put all the facts on the table over his secret £5m gift, his relationship with a convicted fraudster, and the other scandals his party is drowning in.
“Farage’s distraction by-election doesn’t clear his name – it just shows he likely has so much more to hide.”
Reform’s fortunes have taken a hit during the Clacton campaign, which Farage was always expected to win.
Giving his verdict on the result, polling guru Professor John Curtice told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that support for Reform fell “noticeably” in UK-wide polls from just under 27% to about 24%.
He added that Farage faces “quite a substantial political challenge” in trying to get Reform support back up so that it is “back in the lead in the polls, and that there is still clear blue water between Reform and the Conservatives”.
Farage secured a majority of 12,784 votes and 62.82% of the vote.
This is up from his 8405 vote majority, or 46.2% of the overall vote share, when he won at the 2024 General Election. The result was declared shortly after 6am on Friday.
Turnout was 44.37%, down by just over 14%.
