'He's done nothing wrong!' Zia Yusuf defends Nigel Farage resignation as he tears into united move by the 'political establishment'
Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf has accused Nigel Farage's rivals of running scared by not fielding candidates in the upcoming Clacton by-election.
Mr Yusuf, who joined Reform UK just weeks before the 2024 General Election, lashed out at the Tories and Labour after both parties revealed they would not challenge Mr Farage.
The Reform UK leader resigned as an MP yesterday, triggering a snap by-election in his seaside seat.
However, Mr Farage is only facing a challenge from Count Binface, Rejoin EU and the Monster Raving Loony Party at the moment.
Alongside Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch's confirmation that she will not stand a candidate, Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain and Sir Ed Davey's Liberal Democrats have also confirmed they will not field a candidate in Clacton.
Hitting out at the other parties, Mr Yusuf told GB News: "There's clearly only one possible reason why the entire political establishment, Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems, the Greens are refusing to stand against Nigel Farage in this upcoming by-election. Simple.
"Because they know that they would lose. You think that Labour and the Tories, if they thought they had even a modicum of a chance of unseating the man who has been the thorn in their side for decades, you think they wouldn't take that shot?
"They're not taking it simply because they know they have no chance of beating him."
Mr Yusuf highlighted that the Labour Government sought to "cancel elections for millions of people" earlier this year.
He told GB News: "Nigel's been fighting for democracy for decades, actually, but we shouldn't forget it was the same Tories and the same Labour Party that worked together and co-ordinated to cancel elections for millions of people in England in 2025.
"They almost managed to do it again this year, but thankfully, because Nigel and Reform did a judicial review, managed to get them to crawl back with their tail between their legs."
The Reform spokesman added: "Look, here's the reality. The only people whose opinion matters with regard to Nigel Farage's probity and performance as a member of parliament are the great people of Clacton-on-Sea.
"They will now get to vote, and to the degree other parties have chosen not to stand, and the degree that Kemi Badenoch thinks that there are 'fake elections'.
"Elections are not fake, actually they're the only thing that matters and the legitimacy of an election is not determined by Keir Starmer or by Kemi Badenoch.
"The legitimacy of an election is intrinsic to that election and now it's up to the people of Clacton to decide the fate of Nigel Farage in what is clearly the people versus the establishment."
Mr Yusuf defended the Reform leader, telling GB News: "Nigel has done nothing wrong. He has not only not broken the law, he's not broken any of the procedural rules within parliament. The rules are the rules, Reform UK will abide by them.
"If the standards committee, and remember, it's a committee of MPs, that then determine any potential sanction they find against him, which, just to be crystal clear, we do not think that they will.
"Should they do so, it would be up to those MPs to determine a sanction, which could be up to and including a by-election."
Declaring that the by-election is a demonstration of the "people versus the establishment", Mr Yusuf concluded: "It would be up to them to determine whether it would be worth asking the people of Clacton to go back to the ballot boxes to vote again in such a short period of time. It is within their gift to do it. The rules are the rules. We will abide by them.
"But here's the most important thing. I want to reiterate, this is a people versus establishment by-election. Don't be fooled by the fact that Labour and the Tories have decided, and the Greens and the Lib Dems, extraordinary, have all coalesced together so quickly to not stand candidates. All that tells you, all that tells you clearly, is that they're running scared."