Has the shine come off Nigel Farage?

Nick Ferrari goes back through the archives and asks: Is the shine beginning to come off Reform's leader?

The parliamentary watchdog has reopened its investigation into Nigel Farage's finances just hours after he was declared winner of the Clacton by-election.

The probe was paused when he stepped down as an MP - only to announce that he would stand in another contest for the Essex seat.

This pause has now been undone after he beat the only main contender - Count Binface - after all the main parties refused to stand.

The parliamentary commissioner for standards is now restarting its investigation, according to the Commons website.

It concerns allegations about donations, after the Reform UK leader failed to declare a £5million gift he received before becoming an MP in the 2024 general election from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Lee Anderson said Reform UK will “of course” cooperate with the parliamentary investigation.

The Reform MP said that “as far as I’m concerned, and Reform UK are concerned, that the slate is wiped clean now in Clacton”.

Asked whether they would cooperate with a probe by Parliament’s standards watchdog, he added: “Of course we will. We’ll always cooperate with any procedure within Parliament. That’s what we do.“

Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart MP called for the investigations into Mr Farage to “crack on”.

She said: “Like most people who win a fight against a bin, Farage has come away looking daft and smelling of yesterday’s chip paper.

“Now that he’s heading back to Westminster, the investigation into his shady financial affairs and £5 million ‘gift’ must crack on. Reform claims to fight for the people, but they answer to crypto-billionaires."

It comes after Labour and the Conservatives said Mr Farage's victory in Clacton would not draw a line under the controversy.

A record 34 candidates stood in the by-election, with satirical candidate Count Binface appearing to be Mr Farage’s main challenger, after the other mainstream parties declined to stand.

In the end, Mr Farage received 22,239 votes, or 62.82 per cent, whilst Count Binface received 9,455 votes, or 26.71 per cent of the vote.

This is up from his 8,405 vote majority, 46.2 per cent, when he won at the 2024 general election.A total of 32 of the record 34 candidates lost their deposit.

Mr Farage told supporters at an all-night “Farage-fest” event organised by Reform in Essex he would not be attending the count: “I’m not scared of these people, far from it.

”But I’m damned if I’m going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory, a ringing endorsement of all that I’ve tried to fight for, and you’ve tried to fight for, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies, and I will not sadly be attending the count.”

The returning MP did not attend the declaration after Reform UK made claims of a "credible threat" against him, with Mr Farage himself adding that Essex Police had told him there was an "organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result".

It is understood that Essex Police did not advise him not to attend the count.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice told Nick Ferrari this morning: "His security team were very concerned about a credible threat to his security […] I don't think anybody should have the temerity to question our judgments and our security team's judgments about security and safety. People have no idea what the level of threats and risk we face.

"Ultimately it's not the police who decide as to whether or not Nigel is kept safe. It is his security team. They are tasked with keeping him safe and secure."

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