Labour and Tories refuse to stand in Clacton by-election in response to Farage 'pantomime' resignation
Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of taking a "hissy fit" as he stepped down from being an MP and Labour said he was "desperately trying to change the subject"
Labour and the Tories have confirmed they won't contest the Clacton by-election as Nigel Farage faces accusations of "desperately trying to change the subject" following his resignation as an MP.
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Kemi Badenoch said on Tuesday afternoon that the Conservatives will not stand in the Clacton by-election and accused Nigel Farage of "running away from scrutiny".
Ms Badenoch said they would instead stand in a potential second by-election, which could be called if Mr Farage is found to have breached parliamentary standards following the £5m gift he received from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed Labour would be following suit.
A 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."
Read more: Nigel Farage resigns as MP and triggers by-election | LBC callers react
It comes after Mr Farage sensationally quit as MP for Clacton today and vowed to fight a "people versus establishment" by-election amid a row over his finances.
The Prime Minister said: "This is a desperate stunt from Nigel Farage. Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain."
Ms Badenoch released a statement on Tuesday saying: "We will be standing a candidate in the real by-election, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances.
"We will not be standing a candidate in the fake by-election 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.
The Conservatives will not be standing a candidate in this fake by-election. pic.twitter.com/LgVGuFF1r4
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) July 7, 2026
"No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests. We, the Conservative Party, are very focused on uniting the country around sensible policies.
"We're going to focus on getting Britain working again and showing some common sense, not throwing random by-elections out because we're having a hissy fit."
During his bombshell speech on Tuesday, the Reform leader announced he'd be quitting as Clacton MP but plans to stand in the by-election to allow a "people versus the establishment” battle.
He said: "I thought about it hard and I have decided today I will resign as a Member of Parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a by-election, which should happen, I hope, in short order.
"But in a bid to clear his name amid the funding row, he announced he would contest for the Clacton seat again.
"It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment to frankly tell them where to go, and that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election."
Speaking to LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, Anna Turley, Chair of the Labour Party, MP for Redcar, said: "This is a pantomime. This is a circus.
"Why should we all dance to Nigel Farage's tune? He's trying to avoid the kinds of scrutiny, the kinds of questions that he's had months and weeks to answer about the money he's been receiving, about the associates he's been dealing with, about the properties he's got, about the income he's receiving, and all of his failure to declare them all.
"These are the questions he needs to answer, and we're not going to be part of his distraction techniques to try and diverge from this."
In his video address, Mr Farage also accused the media of harassment and vowed to fight a "people versus the establishment" by-election as he announced he is standing down as an MP.
He also released footage on X appearing to show a Sky journalist on his driveway.
The broadcaster said in a statement: "Nigel Farage has legitimate questions to answer about the gift he accepted from Mr Cottrell.“Given the clear public interest in this matter, Sky News has been seeking a response from Mr Farage and has made reasonable efforts to contact him.
"We acknowledge that Sky News was part of a broadcast pool operation outside a property linked to Mr Farage yesterday.
"We approached the property off-camera on a single occasion, identified ourselves, and the occupant chose not to engage."