Nigel Farage, the charismatic MP who took eight attempts to be elected to parliament, has resigned his seat to trigger a by-election to "judge his actions" as he faces heavy scrutiny of his finances.The UK Reform party leader said the contest would be "the people versus the establishment" as he fights to "continue the political revolution" his party has started.He made the ​announcement ⁠at the ‌end of a televised statement ​in which he railed against press intrusion into his family life and said the political establishment was doing all it could to hinder his party.He ⁠said he wanted his constituents to decide if they still wanted him to be their ​MP after two years in the job.Referring to Labour and the Conservatives, he said if he lost the country would "never get the fundamental change we need to fix broken Britain" as he railed against boats crossing the English Channel illegally and a capital "where men cant' wear watches and women can't wear jewellery on the streets".Standards inquiryIn recent weeks the MP for Clacton has ​appeared irritable and uneasy after it was revealed he had accepted a £5 million ($6.6 million) gift from a billionaire crypto investor and not disclosed it.He is being investigated by parliament's standards watchdog over the donation from British-Thai businessman Christopher Harborne and if found guilty could be suspended as an MP. The UK government is cracking down on offshore donations to political parties after cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, including Mr Harborne, gave millions of pounds to Reform.Separately, it was revealed this week that he received financial support from an aristocrat who has been convicted of fraud in the US. The Sunday Times reported that Mr Farage’s long-time ally, George Cottrell, provided funding for the 2024 election campaign, including staffing and security. Under the parliamentary rules when Mr Farage was elected, new MPs had to register any gifts worth more than £300 they had received in the previous 12 months, except when the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities. Mr Farage did not disclose those gifts to parliament but has denied breaking any rules.The revelation around the donation has sparked heavy scrutiny of the former commodities and metals trader’s finances and property. In recent ​days, he has complained about reporters harassing his ‌family and press intrusion.By-election triggeredBy resigning, Mr Farage hopes to stop the clock on the investigation.In a hastily announced speech which he trailed as being about "his future in public life" he set out a series of grievances against the UK media and rival political parties.He insisted he had done nothing wrong, and required the money for his own security as he was "the most physically and verbally attacked" politician of modern times.He said he had run up bills to make sure he was safe and was grateful to benefactors who had helped him. He also said the media was against politicians who make money away from their job in parliament. "Making money is not a crime," he said, criticising the current government for not having experience of running a business.He also called for a general election due to the resignation of Prime Minister, likely to be replaced by Andy Burnham "who has no mandate".Trump's friend⁠Mr Farage has served as the leader of the UK Independence Party and resigned after the 2016 Brexit referendum, saying at the time that his political ambition had ​been achieved. He later returned and launched the Brexit Party, subsequently rebranded as Reform UK. Much of its success was put down to Mr Farage's 'man of the people' persona.He has long counted Donald Trump as a friend, but the US President's return to the White House did not bring the expected bounce to Reform's fortunes as Mr Farage fell out with Elon Musk, who accused him of not being tough enough on immigration.For more than a year, Reform has led almost every ⁠national opinion poll and won in local elections, posing a threat ​to ⁠the century-old dominance of the ‌Labour and Conservative parties.However, it is facing one of its most trying periods since it was launched eight years ago as the Brexit Party. While it is hoping to prove itself a contender for government in a general election due by August 2029, and performed well in May’s local council elections in England, it has lost three recent by-elections for seats that it was aiming to win – in England’s Makerfield, Gorton and Denton, and the Welsh seat of Caerphilly. The competition it faces on its right flank from rival Restore Britain was on display in the Makerfield vote. Launched just five months ago by Rupert Lowe, a former colleague of Mr Farage, Restore has attracted far-right voters who say Reform has become too moderate and mainstream. In Makerfield, Restore won 6.8 per cent of the vote, behind Reform’s 34.5 per cent.The seat was won by Mr Burnham, the former mayor of Manchester, who used his election to a Westminster seat to rally the Labour party around him and force Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation.The latest YouGov voting intention poll shows Reform UK leading on 25 per cent, followed by the Conservatives on 21 per cent and Labour on 20 per cent.