Labour, Tories and Lib Dems refuse to stand in byelection with Farage’s resignation labelled ‘desperate stunt’ – UK politics live

Key events

Nigel Farage’s “statement on my future” video address was lengthy and had a lot to say about his apparent sacrifices for the sake of politics. But do they stand up?

The latest podcast has dropped and today’s episode is on Nigel Farage’s resignation.

Mainstream’s Interim Council, a pro-Andy Burnham group, has released a statement on Nigel Farage’s resignation and triggering of a by-election in Clacton, Essex.

It said: “With new leadership of the Labour Party on the horizon, Reform has nowhere to run but spectacle.

“Farage knows that a Labour Party that ends business as usual would spell the end of the Reform Party too.

“This is a political stunt designed to distract from Labour’s potential to make big change under new leadership.”

Labour will not field candidate in Clacton by-election

From my colleague Jessica Elgot who wrote on X: “BREAKING - Labour will not stand a candidate in Clacton by-election, NEC confirms

“Tories, Restore, Lib Dems also won’t stand against Nigel Farage.

“Has the stunt backfired?”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage is engulfed in a sleaze scandal and he’s desperately trying to change the subject.

“It’s pathetic, and the Labour Party is not going to indulge it.

“Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, has decided not to stand a candidate in this circus.

“Instead, Labour will remain focused on delivering for working people and holding Reform to account.

“Farage should let the parliamentary investigation into his finances run its course and face the consequences.”

The Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires after two men were jailed last week for a stabbing attack on Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati in Wimbledon, south-west London, that a judge said was undertaken “on behalf of the Iranian state”.

Badenoch says Tories won't stand in 'fake' Clacton byelection, but will stand in likely recall one over Farage's 'fishy finances'

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives won’t put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. They came second in the seat in 2024, and held it with a majority of almost 25,000 in 2019.

She said:

We will be standing a candidate in the real byelection, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances

We will not be standing a candidate in the fake byelection that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course, and I think the reason why Nigel Farage has resigned is because he’s terrified that he’s going to be found to have done something wrong.

The best thing for him to have done would have been to call a press conference and explain what he did with the money, apologise if needs be, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, he has been running away from scrutiny. No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests.

This probably makes it even more likely that Labour will decide to do the same. (See 5.47pm.)

That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is now taking over.

Matthew England, a Hansard Society researcher, says that the government could refuse to allow an MP to resign (see 5.38pm) but that this has not happened since the 1840s.

The Lib Dems may not be standing in Clacton, but Count Binface (see 5.19am) says he is up for it.

Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton.

I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house.

Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment.

So be it. Leave him to me.

Labour chair Anna Turley says party's NEC will tonight discuss not putting up candidate in Clacton byelection

On Radio 4’s PM programme, Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has just confirmed that Labour’s national executive committee will meet tonight to discuss the Clacton byelection. She said one option being discussed would be not putting up a candidate. “Why should we all dance to [Nigel] Farage’s tune,” she said. She went on:

He’s using this to create some kind of smoke and mirrors and a distraction from the real questions he has to answer about the money he’s received [and] why he hasn’t declared it.

Davey suggests government should block Farage's resignation

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is now suggesting the government should block Nigel Farage’s resignation until the parliamentary commissioner for standards has concluded the inquiry into Farage not declaring his £5m donation from Christopher Harborne.

The Government must block Nigel Farage’s resignation until the Standards Commissioner finishes investigating him. The people of Clacton deserve the full facts.

If a by-election does go ahead, all parties should stand aside. We cannot give oxygen to this vanity project.

Given that an MP can only resign their seat by getting the chancellor to appoint them as steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, or steward of the Manor of Northstead, in theory the government could stop someone resigning as an MP.

But that would mean Farage still being paid for a job he was not doing. And there is no precedent for this. It does not seem a likely option.

TUC leader Paul Nowak accuses Farage of stunt 'straight out of Trumpian playbook'

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, has also denounced the Clacton byelection as a stunt. He said:

Let’s call this Nigel Farage announcement out for what it is: a cynical political stunt to distract from his dodgy dealings with crypto crooks and super rich aristocrats.

Whether it’s multimillion-pound bungs, luxurious houses or fully funded apparatchiks, Reform’s undeclared cronyism stinks.

Farage is jumping before he’s pushed. This is straight out of the Trumpian playbook – attacking the media and anyone daring to ask legitimate questions about his finances.

Britain and Clacton deserve better than this.

These are from my colleague Jessica Elgot on Labour thinking about whether or not to contest the Clacton byelection.

Labour faces a conundrum over Clacton - Burnham is set on a summer where the prevailing story is the change he is bringing to the country - an August with full government grid and face time with the electorate. Many want to marginalise the Farage by-election as much as possible.

But it is hard for the party of government to decide not to run against Farage and leave him wide open to even increase his majority. Perhaps an independent might take on the challenge - but who? (One Labour person jokes that they should just let it be Count Binface vs Farage)

Ed Davey calls for all parties to join Lib Dems in boycotting Farage's 'vanity project' byelection

Ed Davey from the Lib Dems is the first main party leader to urge all parties not to put up candidates against Nigel Farage. He says:

If this byelection does go ahead now, we are calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage’s vanity project.

But the government should just say no to Farage’s ego-trip and block his resignation until the standards commissioner has finished investigating him.

The people of Clacton should have all the facts before they cast their votes.

Comments from Labour (see 4.43pm) and the Conservatives (see 4.27pm) suggest Davey is pushing at an open door.

If the main parties don’t stand, that would not stop independent candidates standing. That is what happened with the David Davis byelection in 2008.

The danger for the progressive parties, if they do boycott the byelection, is that supporters may be unhappy about the perception that Farage is getting a free ride. But, with no real contest, the byelection will in effect cease to exist as a media event. Even GB News won’t be that interested.

That would mean Farage would be back in the Commons in September – but unable to claim that the vote amounted to any meaningful vindication of his position in his dispute with the parliamentary authorities, or of his assertion that he is a victim of establishment persecution.

Restore Britain says it will contest 'second' Clacton byelection, after recall petition, but not Farage's 'media circus'

Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain, says his party will contest the “second” Clacton byelection – the one he expects to be held after the parliamentary inquiry into Farage’s undisclosed donations wraps up – but not the first one. He says:

Restore Britain will stand in the Clacton by-election.

The second one, held later this year, when the investigations into Farage’s finances conclude as we all suspect they will.

We are not going to participate in a Reform-sponsored media circus over the summer months that is designed to puff up Farage’s ego and deflect away from wholly fair questions over why he has concealed such vast and irregular financial donations.

Unite leader Sharon Graham says Labour should not let byelection 'pantomime' distract from delivery

Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, has put out this statement implying she thinks it would be a waste of time for Labour to fight the Clacton byelection. She says:

This latest distraction from the everyday issues real people are facing will have workers and communities holding their head in their hands.

Everyday people are hurting and this latest pantomime does nothing to ease their pain.

Nigel Farage is certainly no friend of the working class. A privately educated former banker who moved from trading in the City to trading in fear.

The rise of Reform and Restore is down to the non-delivery of Labour.

It is now time for Labour to deliver. This latest diversion must not distract from that.

Burnham spokesperson dismisses Clacton byelection as 'gimmick' to distract attention from funding allegations

It is not clear yet whether or not Labour will put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. And it is not even clear who should take the decision. While Keir Starmer is still PM, Andy Burnham will be in No 10 when the byelection takes place.

And we do not even know yet whether the closing date for nominations will come before Burnham becomes PM on Monday 20 July, or after. It depends when the writ gets moved.

But it is sounding as if Labour and the Tories (see 4.27pm) could both end up not putting up candidates. Starmer said the byelection was a “stunt” (see 4.31pm) and a spokesperson for Burnham said something similar.

The spokesperson said:

This is a gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage’s funders.

What really matters in politics is how we can change Westminster to take power for communities and bring it back to people to make life more affordable for them.

Starmer accuses Farage of 'desperate stunt' and says he's 'up to his neck in sleaze'

This is what Keir Starmer has said about Nigel Farage resigning so he can fight a byelecton in Clacton.

This is a desperate stunt from Nigel Farage.

It’s obvious why he is doing it. He is up to his neck in sleaze.

Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain, not about hiding dodgy donations, and I think the public will see this for exactly what it is.

Keir Starmer arrriving with Yvette Cooper at Ankara Esenboga Airport ahead of the Nato summit. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Badenoch accuses Farage of 'hissy fit', and won't say if Tories will stand candidate in Clacton byelection

Kemi Badenoch has said that Nigel Farage’s decision to trigger a byelection shows he is having a “hissy fit”.

She also refused to say whether the Conservatives would definitely put up a candidate. against him – implying she is more focused on the recall byelection she expects to be held in Clacton when the inquiry into Farage not declaring donations wraps up.

Speaking at the Politico Live event, Badenocc said:

What I’m focused on right now, and I’ve set my team on it, is how to make sure that we avoid wasting taxpayers’ money with two byelections, and we’re exploring every avenue, so until that’s decided I’m not saying anything about what’s happening in Clacton.

There should not be a byelection when the standards committee has not ruled, and the fact is, this doesn’t even stop the ruling. It doesn’t stop the ruling, it just pauses it.

Perhaps at best it’s still going to happen, so he can run as much as he likes from the investigation, he cannot hide, and the people of Clacton, in my view, are going to take a pretty dim view of their MP wasting everybody’s time and money just because he’s having a hissy fit.

Reeves accuses Farage of triggering byelection to distract attention from donations controversy

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that Nigel Farage is trying to “distract from the huge troubles he is currently in” by triggering a byelection.

She told reporters:

He’s obviously trying to distract from the huge troubles that he is currently in around not declaring a whole range of donations and associations. He’s trying to distract from that, and we mustn’t let him.

Asked if Labour would put up a candidate in Clacton, she said:

Let’s see what happens in terms of a byelection, but Labour would tend to stand candidates in byelections.