A date for the by-election is yet to be confirmed, but senior Reform sources want the process to approve it to happen as soon as possible, meaning the poll is likely to take place in August.
Farage remains Reform UK leader and has made clear his pitch to voters will be that voting him back into Parliament would be a chance for them to “stick two fingers up to the entire establishment”.
Farage accused Labour of wanting to stall his party’s progress by changing the rules on donations, granting 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote, and its later-reversed bid to delay council elections in England.
Farage won the Clacton seat by a majority of more than 8,000 votes over the Tories in 2024, with Labour second and the Lib Dems a distant third.
But this time rival parties, including Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the Greens and Restore Britain, have decided not to stand candidates against him.
It raises the prospect that Farage could be left to run against a collection of independent candidates, including comedian Jon Harvey, who regularly runs in by-elections as fictional spacetraveller “Count Binface”.
Farage say his party has offered to pay for the costs involved in holding the by-election, but Downing Street says candidates are not allowed to cover this.