Farage needs to be sworn-in again as MP after by-election

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The Reform leader won the Essex seat last week after standing down from the seat he has represented since the General Election in 2024.

Mr Farage did not stay for the announcement of the result, stating a threat had been made against him, and has since backed a Reform proposal to end welfare payments to all foreigners.

Mr Farage, who won 63% of the Clacton vote - with no other major parties involved, will now need to go through the procedure of being sworn in once more when Parliament returns on September 1.

While he might expect a few heckles from the Labour benches, he will not be required to make a speech, something brief and uncontroversial that first-time members are obliged to make.

The 62-year-old will, however, find on his return to the Commons that an investigation into his £5m gift from British-Thai billionaire Christopher Harborne has not gone away.

Mr Farage received the gift from Mr Harborne in 2024 before being elected and did not declare it.

He would have been required to share any gift of more than £300, unless it had no relation to political or parliamentary activities.

The parliamentary standards commission has now reopened the investigation it had to pause when Mr Farage called the by-election.

Mr Farage said, ahead of calling the by-election, that he would let his constituents decide the strength of feeling of the issue.

"I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions," he said. "I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all.

"I have not misused public money, and you know, for the first two years of being an MP, my personal MP expenses are zero, not of course that you’ll read about that in mainstream media.”