New Delhi, July 19 -- LONDON - Nigel Farage resigned from parliament earlier this month declaring that the people of Clacton should be the judges of his actions. Thirty-four of them have since applied to stand against him.

The by-election, expected in August, has drawn a record field that surpasses the previous high of 26 candidates set during the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden contest, Euronews reported. That vote was also convened by a resigning MP seeking public vindication, and at the time it seemed an outlier in British electoral history. Clacton has moved past that mark before campaigning has properly started.

Farage stepped down after sustained media scrutiny of an undeclared £5 million donation to Reform UK, a sum the party di...