Labour, Tories and Lib Dems refuse to stand in byelection with Farage’s resignation labelled ‘desperate stunt’ – as it happened

According to The Guardian, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage plans to resign his parliamentary seat and then stand again in the resulting Clacton byelection, saying the people there "should be the judges of my actions." Rival parties are having none of it: Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats have all said they won't field candidates, with the move dismissed as a "desperate stunt." Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said questions over whether the standards commissioner should investigate Farage's gifts from donor George Cottrell were a matter for the commissioner. Badenoch also voiced unease at Farage's hints about press regulation, saying she would be worried about a Reform government using state power to control the free press.

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