Date set for Newark by-election after Mercer resigns

A by-election to select the new MP for Newark in Nottinghamshire will be held on June 5, it has been announced.

The by-election was sparked by the resignation of former MP for the constituency Patrick Mercer, following allegations that he accepted money to ask questions in parliament.

It comes as MPs are set to publish a report of their investigation into the claims today.

MPs will publish a report of their investigation into allegations that former Newark MP, Patrick Mercer, accepted money to ask questions in parliament.

The report is expected to recommend he should be suspended from Parliament for six months, but he announced his retirement on Tuesday.

A by-election will now be held in Newark, which will not include UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, as a candidate. The MP ruled himself out of the running for the seat, but said his party would fight hard for it.

Read more: 'Ashamed' Patrick Mercer quits as MP for Newark

The chairman of UKIP in Newark says he would prefer a local man to stand in the by-election in the town, following the resignation of Patrick Mercer.

Peter Weston-Davies added that he was slightly disappointed Nigel Farage had decided not to stand in it however, and that he was not 'scared' to be a candidate.

Nigel Farage has said he did not 'bottle' standing in the Newark by-election, arguing he wanted to focus on the European elections instead.

People in Newark have reacted to the resignation of their MP, Patrick Mercer. Many told ITV News Central that he was a respected MP in the area, but felt he had to resign once the allegations emerged that he took cash in return for asking questions in Parliament.

Nigel Farage has announced he does not intend to run in the Newark by-election. It comes after Patrick Mercer quit as the MP for Newark after facing a six-month ban from parliament over a cash-for-questions scandal.

Mr Farage said: "It was only 12 hours ago that Patrick Mercer stood down, so I haven't had long to think about it.

But I have thought about it and we are just over three weeks away from a European election at which I think UKIP can cause an earthquake in British politics from which we can go on and not just win one parliamentary seat, but quite a lot of parliamentary seats."

But he added: "We will fight the Newark by-election and fight it damned hard and get a good local candidate.

"But we will also, over the course of the summer, be targeting two or three dozen seats for the general election next year.

This party isn't about one politician, it's not about one man, it's not about one by-election, it's about a nationwide political movement."

Mr Farage denied that his decision not to gamble on a run at the Newark seat, which Mr Mercer held for the Tories with a majority of 16,152 in 2010, revealed a lack of courage.

"I think I have shown some courage over the years. I have helped take this party from nothing into a position where last Sunday it was leading the opinion polls in a national election.

"It's about choosing the right battles, it's about prioritising.

"I know that if I had said yes to standing in Newark the next three weeks would be dominated by 'am I going to win, am I not going to win'.

We wouldn't be talking about open door immigration, EU membership, most of our laws being made somewhere else and the issues on which I want us to win the European election."

He added that there would be "pressure and splits within the Conservative Party" after the European elections and "this may not be the last by-election that comes up between now and next May".

On BBC Radio 4's Today programme he added: "I'm a fighter, I'm a warrior but you have to pick your battles in life."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has ruled out running for Parliament in the by-election in Newark triggered by the resignation of former Conservative MP Patrick Mercer.

The UKIP leader said: "I don't have any links with the East Midlands, I would just look like an opportunist and I don't think that would work."

Mr Farage said he did not want to do anything that would distract from the party's campaign for next month's European elections, where he predicted UKIP would cause an "earthquake in British politics".

He told the BBC: "I don't want to do anything that deflects from the European election campaign, so I am not going to stand in this by-election.

"I want to focus the next three weeks on winning the European elections."

Nigel Farage decided not to stand in the Newark by-election, as he knew he could not win, according to Conservative Cabinet minister Ken Clarke.

"I am not really surprised. Whatever else Nigel is, he is not an idiot and I don't think he'd have the faintest chance of winning in Newark," he told the BBC.

Earlier the Ukip leader said: "I don't have any links with the East Midlands, I would just look like an opportunist and I don't think that would work."

But he added: "We will fight the Newark by-election and fight it damned hard and get a good local candidate.

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage has ruled himself out of the running for the Newark by-election, but says his party will "throw the kitchen sink at it".

Mr Farage said in a short statement that his contesting the seat left vacant by disgraced former Tory MP Patrick Mercer would be a "huge distraction" from his party's European election campaign.

He admitted that running in Newark would make him "look like an opportunist" as he has no links with the East Midlands.

Mr Farage said: "I have no doubt that UKIP will throw the kitchen sink at this Newark by-election, but it won’t be me doing it and we won’t get that huge distraction."