The leader of the far-right, anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, has resigned from his seat in parliament and plans to stand again for his constituency amid allegations that he received and failed to declare millions of dollars in donations.The surprise announcement came on Tuesday as Farage faced the possibility of a parliamentary investigation into at least two funding scandals. A finding against him could have seen Farage suspended from parliament, possibly triggering a recall petition and a by-election in his constituency, Clacton, in eastern England.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listBy stepping down preemptively, the Reform leader, whose popularity has soared over the past two years and who is now viewed as a favourite to be the next prime minister, has triggered a by-election on his own terms – in which he himself can stand.“The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” Farage said on Tuesday. “This will be a people vs the establishment by-election.”Farage added: “I will fight to win.”Other parties have already stated that they will not field candidates for a by-election Farage triggers.The right-wing populist leader has been one of the loudest anti-immigration voices in the United Kingdom and was key to securing victory for the Brexit movement. His Reform party currently has just eight of 650 parliament seats but has been leading in opinion polls as anti-migrant sentiments flare in the UK. Last year, a YouGov poll found that Reform would likely win a general election were …
