Andy Burnham will 'welcome with open arms' Nigel Farage's decision to spend his summer 'arguing with a bin', says JAMES TAPSFIELD as he delivers verdict on Reform's by-election backfire

Published: 06:00, 9 July 2026 | Updated: 06:00, 9 July 2026 Andy Burnham is the surprise winner from Nigel Farage's 'furious gamble' to resign, with the coming Clacton by-election distracting attention from the Labour leadership frontrunner's 'very woolly' policies, Political Editor James Tapsfield has told the Daily Mail's Deep Dive podcast. On Tuesday, the Reform UK leader announced he would stand down from his Clacton seat amid a Parliamentary Standards investigation into his receipt of a £5 million gift from British-Thai billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage did not register the gift, received weeks before he became Clacton's MP, in the register of interests newly elected MPs must complete. He denies any wrongdoing, arguing it was a personal, unconditional gift that he had no obligation to declare. The Reform UK leader pitched the by-election, which he will contest, as a chance for the people of Clacton to be 'the judges of my actions', dismissing scrutiny of his finances as an 'establishment hit job'. Burnham is the surprise winner from Farage's 'furious gamble' to resign, Political Editor James Tapsfield has told the Daily Mail's Deep Dive podcast Tapsfield said Farage's gamble 'hasn't worked out', with Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all refusing to stand candidates against him Speaking to the Daily Mail's Robert Hardman, Tapsfield said Farage's gamble 'hasn't worked out as it stands', with Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all refusing to stand candidates against him, leaving joke candidate Count Binface as his only declared challenger. 'All the major parties are going to enjoy themselves,' Tapsfield began. 'They are watching, for the first time really since the general election, the boot being on the other foot, with Nigel having a tougher ride. 'Andy Burnham's team are working very hard behind the scenes to try and get some sort of plan in place for his takeover... there is a lot of very woolly policy going on there that needs to be sharpened up extremely quickly. 'So, if Nigel wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin in Clacton, I think Burnham will be welcoming that with open arms.' Elsewhere in the podcast, Tapsfield suggested Farage's 'genuine anger' over media scrutiny into his finances may have got the better of him, leaving the Reform leader facing an 'embarrassing summer'. He pointed out that suggestions Farage has escaped or meaningfully delayed the Parliamentary Standards investigation by resigning are wide of the mark. The inquiry will continue regardless, with a verdict potentially months or even 'over a year' away. And if the Reform leader is ultimately found to have breached the rules and handed a lengthy suspension, he could face a second by-election in Clacton, this time not of his own making. He said: 'I think we saw yesterday that Nigel was genuinely angry. We suspected he was angry for a while, but he was a lot angrier than we thought, judging by what he was saying yesterday. LISTEN: Farage's 'Furious' Gamble: Will the Clacton By-Election Backfire? Listen to the latest Daily Mail Deep Dive podcast 'Reform pride themselves on their tactical ability to see problems coming and trying to head them off. 'There was a mix of him being genuinely very cross and also thinking he might be able to pull off a clever tactic by kind of outflanking his opponents. 'This was a kind of calculated, furious gamble taken by Reform and Nigel and, as it stands, it's looking like it's going to be quite an embarrassing summer.' Tapsfield added that the irony of Farage's fury is that the very scrutiny he is railing against may be proof of his success. He said: 'A danger here is if Farage starts to look as if he's peaked and petulant about the kind of scrutiny you're going to get as you come closer to being the actual Prime Minister. 'As people become more important to our politics, they need to be looked at more closely, and that's something Nigel has actually argued for before.' Listen to Tapsfield's full analysis of Farage's resignation by searching for Deep Dive now, wherever you get your podcasts.