Reform UK’s Farage says he’ll quit as lawmaker and seek reelection amid donation allegations
LONDON: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced Tuesday that he will quit his seat in Parliament and seek reelection in an effort to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars’ worth of donations.
The unexpected resignation is an effort by the anti-immigration politician to preempt a standards investigation that could have seen him ejected as a lawmaker, and to present himself as the victim of a witch hunt by the media and his political foes.
“I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a statement broadcast by his party. Media outlets were not allowed to attend the broadcast and he did not take questions.
Farage faces a parliamentary standards investigation about undeclared and potentially rule-breaking donations, including a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift he received from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. A finding of wrongdoing could lead to Farage being suspended or expelled from Parliament. But he has made the first move by triggering an election for his seaside seat of Clacton in eastern England.
