In August, Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, will run against a “record” number of opponents in a by-election for the coastal constituency of Clacton.
Tendring District Council, the local authority overseeing the vote, reports that 34 candidates will run for the seat, which is believed to be the most in any UK parliamentary election.
The previous by-election record is said to have been achieved in 2008, when 26 candidates ran for the Haltemprice and Howden seat following the resignation of Conservative MP David Davis, who also sought reelection.
After winning Clacton in the 2024 UK general election, Farage resigned as an MP earlier this month due to growing media attention and a parliamentary investigation for an unreported £5 million (€5.88 million) donation.
Farage, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, called his resignation “a chance to throw two fingers up to the entire establishment” and stated that he had “chosen that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.”
Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party all rejected to file candidates in the by-election scheduled for next month, dismissing Farage’s action as a ploy. As a result, the nation’s mainstream parties will not be participating.
Kemi Badenoch, the head of the Conservative Party, accused Farage of “running away from examination,” while the Labour Party accused him of “desperately trying to divert the issue.”
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