Is Reform ready to get rid of Nigel Farage?

What’s the story?

According to Nigel Farage, "no one cares" about the £5 million donation - but that's not really true.

The leader of Reform UK was recently grilled on the gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, given before he led the party, which Farage initially claimed was to pay for his personal security, during a round of media interviews.

Farage has since said he is entitled to spend the money how he likes, and could buy cars with it if he chooses, but under press scrutiny, he appeared angry and defensive at the questioning of his finances.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has launched an investigation into the donation, and whether Farage should have declared the gift at the time. Farage claims he was under "no obligation" to do so.

The News Agents describe his attempts to dismiss public scrutiny over his “five million quid bung” as a “disaster”.

"He is still waiting to find out from the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner whether he has to forgo a period as MP," says Emily Maitlis.

"If it comes back against him, if it finds that he shouldn't have received this £5 million donation without declaring it, then it is possible even that he could face a recall in his own constituency in Clacton."

It requires 10% of the Clacton electorate to sign a recall position, stating they want their MP to lose their seat, to trigger a local by-election.

But would Farage even care?

"We don't know how much time Farage has genuinely spent in Clacton," Maitlis adds.

"We don't know how wedded he is to staying as the MP for Clacton, but we might see – within the next few days – this all comes to another pretty speedy head."

Why does Farage's position suddenly seem so unstable?

Not only could Farage face pressure from the findings of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner David Greenberg, there's also signs that his own party is readying to cut him loose.

Party chairman David Bull recently stated in a TV interview that "the party is way bigger than Nigel" as he claimed Reform UK had been "professionalising" itself.

"Does it mean that they are preparing for the worst, preparing for him to take himself off and say he's done with this?" Maitlis asks.

"Rupert Lowe, for one, would be delighted to see Nigel Farage go from that.

"Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner, is going to come back within the next few days, and so this could become quite a live issue over the weeks ahead."

But what does Reform UK, which has Restore Britain yapping at its heels and splitting the hard-right UK vote (as was seen recently in the Makerfield by-election) look like without the man who arguably put it in the position it is today?

"It's like when Republicans in the state say the party is bigger than Donald Trump," says Jon Sopel.

"Well, not right now it isn't."

He says Farage's decision to stand in Clacton hugely boosted Reform's success in the 2024 general election with voters across the UK.

"Forget Clacton, but also around the country with people thinking I'm going to vote Reform now, because Farage is back in the race," Jon adds.

"He commands an enormous amount of public support.

"I think that the Reform Party does not look anything like as big without him."

Could this trigger a general election?

If you look at seats in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party remains the official opposition party in the UK.

But if you look at the polls, it is unquestionably Reform, which has been leading opinion polls throughout 2026 – although this has failed to translate into votes in several key by-elections.

With Andy Burnham all-but-certain to become the next Prime Minister, there is now talk of if, or when, he could call a snap election, and secure his support as the country's leader.

Today Burnham gave a speech outlining his plans for the leadership, which focused on more devolution in UK leadership, and a 'Westminster of the North' based in Manchester.

"I heard it over the weekend from various Labour people, wow, maybe a general election is not waiting until 2029," says Jon.

"Maybe it could come even sooner with a Burnham bounce, particularly given the agenda that he is sort of sketched out today."

"The big question is, what does he do next year, or even later this year, if he's got a big bounce in the polls, and people are saying to go for a snap election."

A new leader, they say, usually results in a huge bump in public opinion, and this, timed to coincide with the possible demise of Farage, could be used in Burnham's favour.

"He's shifted things so much from Labour of 2024 that he needs to seek a new mandate through a general election to get this done," says Maitlis.

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