Trump’s Nigel Farage Quits UK Parliament Amid Financial Gift Scandal

The President of the United States, Donald Trump’s ally, Nigel Farage has resigned as a member of the UK Parliament, triggering a by-election in his Clacton constituency as the Reform UK leader vowed to take his fight directly to voters.

Farage said he was stepping down to contest what he described as a “people versus the establishment” election, insisting the public should decide his political future rather than parliamentary authorities.

The move comes as the Reform UK leader faces investigation over his financial declarations. Since May, Parliament’s standards commissioner has been looking into claims that Farage failed to declare a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency investor and Reform UK donor Christopher Harborne before entering Parliament in 2024.

Fresh pressure followed reports by The Sunday Times at the weekend that Farage also received financial support from long-time political associate George Cottrell, who was convicted of wire fraud in the United States in 2017.

Responding to the controversy, Farage accused political opponents of weaponising parliamentary procedures against him.

“Parliamentary standards are being used as a political tool,” he said, adding that the voters of 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, after earlier dismissing the investigation into his finances as an “establishment hit job.”

The resignation drew support from President Trump, who shared a Truth Social post on Monday carrying the headline: “They’re Running the 2024 Anti-Trump Playbook on Nigel Farage.”

The endorsement comes despite speculation in recent months that relations between the two had cooled after Farage was unable to secure a meeting with Trump during a visit to Mar-a-Lago in March.

Farage has led Reform UK since 2024 after winning a parliamentary seat in that year’s general election.

The party has topped most national opinion polls since April 2025, fuelling expectations that it could emerge as the largest party at the next UK general election, which must be held by August 15, 2029.

Farage who was a central figure in the campaign that led Britain out of the European Union, served in the European Parliament and built his reputation as one of the bloc’s most outspoken critics.

He also led the UK Independence Party between 2006 and 2009, and again from 2010 until stepping down after the successful Brexit referendum in 2016.