Nigel Farage has seen off Count Binface to win the Clacton byelection in a contest boycotted by every other major political party.
The Reform UK leader in July triggered the byelection in an attempt to shake off a deepening scandal over a £۵m gift he received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
After a campaign in which a record-breaking ۳۴ candidates vied for the coastal seat, Farage held on to Clacton, with ۲۲,۲۳۹ votes (۶۳.۳۴%) of the vote.
His nearest competitor, Count Binface, a parody candidate dressed as an intergalactic rubbish bin, won ۹,۴۵۵ votes (۲۶.۹۳%). The turnout was ۴۴%.
Farage had been widely expected to win. A poll from Survation on Monday put Farage on ۷۵% of the vote, with Binface on ۲۰%. Farage declared himself the winner while the votes were still being counted.
Despite winning, Farage did not appear at the count for a victory lap, and claimed that Essex police had advised him that a plot was under way to embarrass him when the result was declared. Instead, he snubbed Clacton leisure centre, where the count was being held, for Farage Fest, a carnival-like event held in the rural fringes of the constituency.
At the count, there was a heavy security presence, with bag checks and metal detectors at the entrance of the leisure centre. Responding to Farage’s claim that there was an “organised campaign” to disrupt the count, the chief executive of Tendring district council, Ian Davidson, said he would not comment on security matters but there was a “robust policing operation” in place.
The victory will do little to stem mounting questions around Farage’s and Reform’s financial affairs. A formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into the £۵m gift is due to restart as soon as Friday.
Since the contest was called, questions have also been asked about Farage’s links to the convicted fraudster George Cottrell, and the Metropolitan police opened an investigation into donations made to the party.
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Shortly after Farage called the byelection, which he claimed would be “the people versus the establishment”, every other main party boycotted the contest, calling it a “media circus” and a “vanity project”. Instead, Count Binface, the self-declared “entirely independent space warrior” created by the comedian Jon Harvey, emerged as Farage’s strongest challenger.
The record-breaking number of candidates means tellers in the counting hall have had to grapple with the longest ballot paper in British electoral history.
After standing in multiple British parliamentary elections since ۱۹۹۴, Farage was elected to the Commons as the member for Clacton in ۲۰۲۴. He won the seat with a majority of ۸,۴۰۰, taking ۴۶.۲% of the vote. The Conservatives came second and Labour third.
