During the LBC phone-in, Reform's Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick replied to a question about whether Nigel Farage was cowardly for not holding off until the outcome of an inquiry.

He said: "Well, I don’t think you can ever call people cowardly who call by-elections, but the point I’d make is the one I made a few minutes ago to our other caller, which is that the ultimate sanction that the the authorities in the House of Commons have, if indeed Nigel were ever found guilty, and he professes his innocence, would be to call a by-election.

“And so he just cut – he’s cut the whole thing off and said, ‘why waste the next six months or goodness knows how long?’ Maybe it’s even going to be – I saw Lucy Powell, the Labour Party deputy leader, saying it could be over a year.

“He’s cut the whole thing off and said, ‘lets have the by-election now. If that’s the worst you can do to me, bring it on! Have it now!’

“And and I do question whether the people of Clacton, you know, are somehow not informed enough to make a judgment. Nigel is already out on the streets in Clacton chatting to people. I’ve seen he’s been in pubs and cafes on the street, on the pier, in the arcade.

“He’s been he’s been making his case, and surely the people in Clacton know enough, are capable of making a judgment.”

Robert Jenrick rejected suggestions Nigel Farage was cowardly for not waiting for the outcome of a parliamentary investigation into a £5 million gift he received from a crypto-billionaire before calling a by-election.

During a phone-in on LBC, one caller asked whether Mr Farage was cowardly for not holding off until the outcome of an inquiry by Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg, which will now be paused after he quit as an MP but could resume if he is re-elected.

Jenrick went out to bat for Farage(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

A steady trickle of Labour MPs could be seen making their way to the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) offices on Thursday morning to make their nomination for Sir Keir Starmer’s successor as party leader and prime minister.

Andy Burnham is so far the only known candidate, after former defence minister Al Carns ruled himself out on Wednesday evening.

One MP leaving the PLP offices in Westminster told the Press Association there is “no one else” who appears a likely challenger.

Several joked about the possibility of voting for Count Binface as the next Labour leader.

The satirical candidate is standing against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election triggered by the Reform UK leader.

Parliamentarians leaving the PLP office said that Barry Gardiner, the Brent West MP, and Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) were among the first to make their nominations on Thursday morning.

Suerly the biggest announcement from the Prime Minister in recent days.

Keir Starmer is preparing to give England fans a bank holiday if the Three Lions roar to World Cup glory.

The Prime Minister dropped his heaviest hint yet that he wants to reward the nation with a day off if Thomas Tuchel's men end 60 years of hurt.

Asked if he’d grant a bank holiday if England wins, football-mad Starmer told reporters at the Nato summit: “On the question of a bank holiday, I don't want to jinx it, but ask me again if we get to the final.”

Downing Street is understood to be preparing for the idea, but details are still being thrashed out. A bank holiday would not automatically fall on the Monday after the final - which is Mr Starmer's last day in office - and would most likely be held on the Friday after the World Cup final.

It could also coincide with a victory parade for the England team, who are unlikely to make it back to the UK from New Jersey until Monday if they do make it to the final.

READ MORE: England fans on course for a bank holiday if Three Lions win the World Cup

Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the huge announcement(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Away from the chaos in Britain, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Sir Keir Starmer a pistol and a box of live ammunition as a present during the Nato summit in Ankara.

Sir Keir told reporters Mr Erdogan had given all the leaders at the summit a similar gift, with each weapon engraved with the recipient’s name.

Despite a note from Mr Erdogan waiving export controls, the Prime Minister has had to leave the revolver in Turkey to be decommissioned as it is illegal to import it into the UK.

Police are reportedly investigating a political donation given to Robert Jenrick's Tory leadership campaign in 2024.

The Metropolitan Police force is said to be looking into claims that a donation to the campaign came from a foreign donor, which is illegal under UK election laws. Mr Jenrick said the claims, reported in the i newspaper, are "entirely false".

The former Tory minister - who defected to Reform UK earlier this year - ran to be Conservative Party leader in the 2024 contest to replace Rishi Sunak. He was defeated by Kemi Badenoch.

Allegations relate to a £100,000 donation to the Newark MP's leadership campaign from UK company Spott Fitness. It is claimed that around a third of this money - some £37,000 - originated from a US business associate of Ullmann, Gary Klopfenstein, who has since been convicted of fraud.

READ MORE: Donation to Robert Jenrick's Tory leadership campaign 'investigated by Metropolitan Police'

Robert Jenrick previously ran to be Tory leader(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Count Binface is set to launch his campaign for the Clacton by-election later today.

A by-election in the Clacton constituency has been formally triggered, after Nigel Farage resigned his seat in the Commons.

Mr Farage, the Reform UK leader, has said he will try to win back a spot on the green benches.

Lee Anderson, Reform’s chairman, moved the writ.

“I beg to move that Mr Speaker do issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new writ for the electing of a member to serve in this present Parliament for the county constituency of Clacton in the room of Nigel Paul Farage, who since his election for the said county constituency has been appointed to the office of Steward and Bailiff of His Majesty’s Manor of Northstead in the county of York,” he said.

The Peter Mandelson appointment as US ambassador was an “unmitigated disaster” that damaged Britain in the “eyes of the world ”, a damning report has found.

A Foreign Affairs Committee investigation found it was “difficult to understand” how the disgraced peer was handed the plum Washington role, citing concerns about national security.

Keir Starmer sacked him in September 2025 after fresh revelations over his friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but the scandal refused to go away and deeply damaged the soon-to-be former PM.

The influential Westminster committee found the process was not followed, and are now calling for no public appointments to be announced or made without the appropriate security clearance first being granted.

They argue when a Prime Minister wishes to make a specific appointment, they should always consult the Head of Diplomatic Service and the Foreign Secretary.

The report also called for a new process of appointments, and for the diligence report to always be shared with the hiring department.

READ MORE: Peter Mandelson appointment branded 'unmitigated disaster' for Britain

The Mandelson affair was a disaster for Britain(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

A minister said the by-election in Makerfield after an MP stood down to make way for Andy Burnham was “completely and utterly different” to the vote in Clacton triggered by Nigel Farage’s resignation.

It was put to Sir Chris Bryant that some might argue the move was similar to when a by-election was triggered in Makerfield.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Completely and utterly different.”

He added: “Josh Simons stood down in Makerfield because he believed the country needed a change of direction.

“He wasn’t standing himself, it wasn’t some kind of gimmick to try and avoid scrutiny.”

The main disability benefit is failing claimants and is “not fit for purpose”, a major report has warned.

DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms’s review said the process claiming of personal independence payment (PIP) benefits is often “dehumanising”, “soul destroying”, and “degrading” to claimants.

The Timms review, which draws on more than 38,000 responses, said PIP, the main disability benefit, was introduced in 2013 to help towards the extra costs of disability and support independent living.

But it said it has never been fully reviewed despite shifting trends in health and disability.

The findings of the review come a year after Keir Starmer was forced to abandon plans to slash £5billion from sickness and disability benefits following a major Labour rebellion.

The U-turn - leaving the welfare bill in tatters - was one of the one of the most destabilising moments during Mr Starmer’s premiership and left his authority weakened.

READ MORE: 'Dehumanising' failures mean main disability benefit PIP is not working, major review finds

Claimants were being failed, according to the major report(Image: Getty)

A minister has said he probably would not vote in the by-election if he lived in Clacton.

Sir Chris Bryant told Times Radio: “Look, if I lived there, I don't think I'd vote. The whole thing is a complete and utter nonsense.

"I...It's a ludicrous attempt. He (Nigel Farage) had a hissy fit, basically, didn't he? And he's got very, very thin skin, has Nigel Farage.

"And look, why are we in this mess? It's because Nigel Farage took £5 million, didn't declare it. There's a row about whether he should have declared it…

"And this is the nub, because yesterday, Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, confirmed what I think we sort of already knew, which was that Farage had been directly lobbying him about cryptocurrencies, trying to get the Bank of England, and they are, I would argue, are officials, lobbying them, using his position as an MP to lobby them on behalf of (Christopher) Harborne, the man who'd given him the £5 million.

"Now, that is a much, much more serious offence."

Nigel Farage’s attempt to fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election is in tatters after the main parties decided not to field candidates.

The Reform UK leader said he would quit as an MP on Tuesday as he came under further scrutiny over his finances, saying that the voters in Clacton “should be the judges of my actions”.

However after Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain all said they will not stand candidates, Mr Farage's only confirmed challenger is the satirical candidate Count Binface.

The Mirror takes a look at the man behind the bin, and what his vision is for Clacton.

READ MORE: Meet real Count Binface - the comedian candidate hoping to beat establishment Nigel Farage in Clacton

Count Binface previously beat Britain First in the race to be London Mayor(Image: Getty Images)

A Labour minister has had a savage dig at Nigel Farage, saying his Clacton by-election is a "face without any jokes in it".

The contest is likely to be a head-to-head between the embattled Reform leader and parody candidate Count Binface after all other major parties refused to stand.

Mr Farage faces an ongoing investigation by Parliament's standards commissioner over an undeclared £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

The probe is expected to resume if he returns as the constituency's MP.

Trade minister Sir Chris Bryant said he suspected Mr Farage may have been given bad legal advice. And he likened him to Donald Trump, saying his antics are unlikely to impress voters.

Farage's gamble could backfire(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Nigel Farage is “trying to pretend he’s Donald Trump” but it “doesn’t wash with most ordinary members of the public,” a minister said.

Asked why Labour would not stand a candidate in the Clacton by-election triggered by Mr Farage, Sir Chris Bryant said the Reform UK leader had a “hissy fit” and “I just don’t think that we should play along with that game.”

He told Sky News: “I know what Nigel Farage is trying to do.

“He’s trying to pretend that he’s Donald Trump, and that they’re all out to get me in for me, in for me, all of that kind of stuff.

“I just don’t think it washes with most ordinary members of the public.”

Locals in Clacton have blasted Nigel Farage for "wasting money" on a by-election which could set back the taxpayer around £200,000.

Few things can steer chat away from the weather during a heatwave in a UK seaside town but Mr Farage's antics has certainly turned up the heat in his Essex constituency.

Mr Farage has been an MP for just over two years but the people of Clacton could soon hit the polls again to pick between the leader of Reform UK and Count Binface - a comedian who has been the only person to announce they'll run against Farage.

Some locals in Clacton accused Farage's move as being a "waste of money" while complaining the hundreds of thousands it could cost for a by-election could be better spent on the area instead.

With visitors hitting the pier with ice cream dripping down their hands and tucking into fish and chips and a drink on a hot July day, it could be easy to miss Clacton-on-Sea, and the rest of Farage's Essex constituency, have been pulled into an uncertain political tussle.

READ MORE: 'I went to Clacton and discovered what residents really think about "Mini Trump" Nigel Farage'

Mirror reporter Elizabeta Ranxburgaj met locals to get their reaction to the Farage byelection fallout(Image: Phil Harris)