The Guardian view on Nigel Farage’s byelection stunt: spectacle is not scrutiny

The Reform UK leader wants voters to overrule parliamentary accountability. Labour should expose the trick, then offer a politics that works Nigel Farage, Brexit’s snake-oil salesman, is at it again. The Reform UK leader is under investigation over whether he broke parliamentary rules by failing to disclose a £5m gift from a crypto billionaire shortly before announcing he would stand for parliament. He now faces questions over claims that George Cottrell, a Montenegro-based convicted criminal and longtime associate, helped fund his security and social media operation before the 2024 general election. MPs are required to declare potentially relevant gifts or donations received in the 12 months before entering parliament. Purely personal gifts do not need to be registered . Rather than wait for the exoneration he insists is inevitable, Mr Farage says he will resign as MP for Clacton and stand again. He hopes to pull in the crowds like a carnival barker. His argument is a con: that the “establishment” should not judge him over million-pound gifts; only the voters should. But a byelection can decide only who represents Clacton. It cannot decide whether parliamentary rules were breached, whether donations or benefits were declarable, or whether electoral law was broken. That is up to parliamentary authorities and election regulators. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here . Continue reading...