Reform to ask for Clacton byelection to be held on 6 August after Farage resignation

Reform UK will request that the Clacton byelection be held on 6 August, the party has said, after Nigel Farage’s decision to resign from the seat.

The Reform UK leader, who has represented the Essex constituency since the 2024 general election, said on Tuesday he was standing down and would put himself forward again in what he has sought to portray as a “people versus the establishment” contest.

Farage’s attempts to use the poll to shake off a deepening scandal over financial gifts he has received appears to have backfired as his main rivals announced they would boycott the byelection. At present, only the novelty candidate Count Binface has decided to stand against him.

On Wednesday, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, approved Farage’s formal resignation as an MP by appointing him steward of the Manor of Northstead, the arcane procedure by which MPs are allowed to quit their seats.

In a social media post announcing his departure, Reeves said: “If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.”

A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Reform UK will move the writ tomorrow morning, and we are proposing a byelection on 6 August.”