What happens to Nigel Farage now he’s been re-elected as Clacton MP?

Nigel Farage has been comfortably re-elected as Clacton’s MP, coming out on top of a record-breaking field of 34 novelty and fringe candidates.

Polls in the run-up to Thursday’s by-election had predicted the Reform leader would get almost three-quarters of votes, but the final figure was 63.3%.

Count Binface, meanwhile, secured 26.9%, making him by a wide margin the best-performing novelty candidate in modern British political history.

The result means Farage immediately returns as an MP, and will represent Clacton in the House of Commons when it returns from summer recess next month.

Will the Nigel Farage investigation restart?

However, even before Farage walks back through the doors of the Palace of Westminster, the investigation into his declarations by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will start again.

Daniel Greenberg is looking into whether Farage should have disclosed a £5 million ‘gift’ he received ahead of the 2024 general election from a British crypto billionaire based in Thailand.

The commissioner is not deciding whether he should or should not have accepted the money, only whether he broke the rules by not formally declaring it as a donation linked to his political activities.

Nevertheless, the focus on that £5 million – many times more money than most of his constituents would make across their entire lifetime – is uncomfortable for Farage.

Then there are the questions over support allegedly provided to Reform by the convicted fraudster George Cottrell, nicknamed Posh George.

According to the Sunday Times, the 32-year-old aristocrat supplied security and social media staff for Farage which were also not declared.

Farage openly acknowledged that he decided to force the by-election because of these stories, arguing the people of Clacton should be the ultimate judge of whether he has done anything wrong.

But the now-restarted investigation could mean they get another opportunity soon.

If Greenberg finds that there was a breach of the rules, a fairly convoluted series of events begins.

He will send a report to the Commons select committee on standards, which will decide the punishment. If that punishment involves Farage being suspended from the House of Commons for 10 sitting days, a recall petition is triggered. If at least 10% of voters in Clacton sign the recall petition, Farage loses his seat and another by-election takes place.

The Reform leader would be free to stand in that new by-election, and it’s likely the main parties that sat out Clacton would decide to stand a candidate too.

What has Nigel Farage promised for Clacton and what has he done so far?

When Farage first ran for the seat in summer 2024, his campaign heavily leaned on his national profile and policies such as tackling immigration.

It was a similar story for this week’s by-election. Asked by Metro to set out the things he would do if he was re-elected, he set out Reform’s policies on illegal immigration, taxes and ‘dodgy’ businesses.

He has faced questions over the amount of time he spends in his Clacton constituency, and he reportedly does not hold in-person surgeries where local residents can raise issues due to safety concerns.

His spokesperson has previously said he holds surgeries online.

In a campaign video published last week, Farage said he had donated to local causes and led a Remembrance Day parade in Walton-on-the-Naze.

He also said he had done ‘everything I can to help and promote’ furniture store Codgers after it was destroyed in a fire, adding he has also promoted Clacton as a ‘place to come and visit’.

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