Nigel Farage has accused Labour and the Conservatives of showing "contempt" for voters after both parties declined to contest the Clacton by-election, leaving the Reform UK leader facing comedy candidate Count Binface as one of his highest-profile opponents. Nigel Farage announced on Tuesday that he will resign as MP for Clacton and fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election after coming under intense scrutiny over the financial support he has received.

The Reform UK leader said the "people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions" and insisted he has done nothing wrong. However, Labour, the Conservatives and other parties have said they would not take part in the Clacton by-election and that any investigation into his finances should run its course. On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer said Farage's announcement was a "desperate stunt" and that he was "up to his neck in sleeze." Farage has been under investigation by Parliament's Standards Commissioner since May over his failure to declare a £5 million gift from a billionaire Reform UK donor before becoming an MP.

When Farage was asked if he'd considered the possibility of fighting as the only proper candidate, he told the Daily Mail: "No, of course not.

"Why would they [not contest]? It's a real election."

Farage accused the other political parties of "working together" to undermine his attempt to present the by-election as a contest between Reform UK and what he describes as the "establishment."

He added: "The fact Labour and the Conservatives don't want to stand, they're both showing contempt for the electorate. They can use whatever terms they want – it's a real election with real people."

He argued that resigning and forcing a by-election was the best way to confront the allegations directly rather than allowing questions over his finances to dominate Reform UK's agenda for months.

With the mainstream parties sitting out the race to avoid validating the contest, Farage's most high-profile confirmed opponent so far is the satirical novelty candidate, Count Binface.

Count Binface said he would stand, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton. I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house.”

He describes himself as an "independent space warrior and leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX," claiming to be more than 5,900 years old.