Parties refusing to stand against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election are missing a chance to “knock him out the ring”, the leader of his party in Scotland has claimed.
Mr Farage announced on Tuesday he would resign from his seat and stand in the subsequent by-election following intense scrutiny of support and gifts he has received.
Within hours of the announcement, the major parties said they would not field a candidate in the seat, leaving the only current challenger to be perennial joke candidate Count Binface.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Malcolm Offord – the leader of Mr Farage’s Reform UK in Scotland – said mainstream parties are scared to take on the soon-to-be-former Clacton MP.
“What does that tell you about who he’s up against?” Lord Offord said.
“Talk about an establishment stitch-up, that’s what it is.
“Nobody wants to fight Nigel Farage.
“At the end of the day, this is an opportunity to knock Nigel Farage out of the ring, he’s anti-establishment, he’s anti the incumbent parties and he’s been a thorn in their side for 25 years.
“This is an opportunity for them to knock him out of the ring, and they’re feart (scared).”
A Labour spokesperson described the by-election as a “circus” as the party announced it will not field a candidate, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the race as “fake” as her party also stood aside.
Green MP Hannah Spencer – who won the recent Gorton and Denton by-election – told BBC Newsnight her party’s local branch had also decided against standing.
Mr Farage currently faces a standards probe into an undeclared £5 million gift he received from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.
While Lord Offord said Mr Farage has “done nothing wrong”, he later said he is “not privy to the personal and full circumstances of that gift to Nigel Farage”.
Mr Farage hit out at increased media scrutiny in his resignation announcement on Tuesday, accusing broadcaster Sky News of harassing his daughter.
The broadcaster denied the allegations, saying a journalist had spoken to someone at an address where Mr Farage had recently been registered to vote and left after they had refused to engage.
Lord Offord told the BBC Mr Farage had “gone tonto” in response.
“I actually think there’s a line here, I don’t think journalists should be doorstepping people at their personal properties,” he said.
“We’re all available at all times to talk to the press.
“There’s always a forum to do that and they didn’t know who was going to be in that property, turns out that’s where his daughter is living and that has caused a great deal of distress and he’s gone tonto.”
BBC host Martin Geissler put it to Lord Offord that he was invited on to the radio on Monday but declined.
Speaking to the Press Association during a visit in Fife on Wednesday, Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said people in Scotland will view Mr Farage’s announcement as “a lot of nonsense”, as she hit out at the “chaos” in Westminster.
“Two years ago the people of Scotland were promised change from a Labour Government,” she said.
“We’re now waiting for a new, unelected prime minister to come in in the form of Andy Burnham, we’ve got Nigel Farage stepping down, a by-election no-one wants to take part in and, of course, no transparency around about significant amounts of money that was donated to him.
“He wants to avoid that transparency and create this chaos and I think, ultimately, Scotland deserves better.”
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