Half of Brits think Nigel Farage should face second by-election if £5 million gift broke donation rules
Voters do not think that the Clacton by-election has let Farage off the hook
Half of voters think that Nigel Farage should face a second by-election if he is found to have broken parliamentary rules by failing to declare a donation.
Farage stepped down as Clacton’s MP on 7 July amid a parliamentary standards investigation into an undeclared £5 million gift he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Despite Farage winning last Thursday’s Clacton by-election, More in Common polling shows the public still believe he should face a second vote if found to have breached Commons rules.
Farage had hoped that the by-election would shift the focus away from questions about his £5 million gift, stating that the contest would allow Clacton residents “to be the judges of my actions”.
Just hours after the by-election result, which Farage won with an 8,500 majority, the standards watchdog reopened the investigation into his finances. The probe had been paused during Farage’s brief absence from parliament.
According to the More in Common Poll, 49% of British voters think he should face a second by-election if the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner finds he has breached the rules.
A second by-election is a potential outcome of the standards investigation. If the commissioner recommends a suspension of more than 10 days, this could trigger a recall petition and potentially force a new vote.
A majority of Brits (54%) do not believe that the standards investigation is treating Farage unfairly, thereby rejecting his claim that he is a victim of an “establishment stitch-up”.
UK director at More in Common, Luke Tryl, told the HuffPost: “If one of Farage’s aims in calling this by-election was to motivate supporters and project confidence, it seems to have proven quite successful: Britons tend to think that the result was a victory for Farage, and among Reform’s own voters four in five say that it was a good result for him.
“Yet the public are less aligned with Farage’s hopes that winning the support of the people of Clacton might put the donations row to bed. Beyond Reform’s own supporters, few think that this by-election lets him off the hook, or that he is being unfairly targeted.
“So while it seems the public see Clacton as a victory for Reform, most don’t see it as a vindication of Farage’s position on the finance row.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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