Nigel Farage wins Clacton byelection in contest boycotted by every other major party

Reform UK leader fails to appear for result, despite beating nearest challenger, Count Binface, and 32 other candidates

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 £5m gift he received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

After a campaign in which a record-breaking 34 candidates vied for the coastal seat, Farage held on to Clacton, with 22,239 votes (63.34%). Farage increased his general election vote by just over 1,000 ballots, despite a lower turnout but without any competition from the major parties.

His nearest competitor, Count Binface, a parody candidate dressed as an intergalactic rubbish bin, won 9,455 votes (26.93%). The turnout was 44%. The result was not as seismic for Farage as some polls had predicted.

A poll from Survation on Monday put Farage on 75% of the vote, with Binface on 20%. 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. The Guardian understands that the force did not advise Farage not to attend. Lee Anderson said he had not spoken with Farage about his claim, with conflicting accounts emerging. The Reform MP for Ashfield told BBC Breakfast: “Sometimes some of these police forces that we’ve been dealing with recently are about as honest as you lot at the BBC.”

On the night, the contest was resolutely low energy, with hardly any Reform supporters in the room. When Farage was announced as the winner, his supporters were nowhere to be seen or heard in the counting hall. The result came after a gruelling count in which tellers had to grapple with a 90cm-long ballot paper – the longest in British political history – to tally tens of thousands of votes past sunrise.

Aside from Farage, who snubbed the count, the remaining 33 candidates lined up – nearly filling the width of the room – when the results were announced. The announcement of Count Binface’s 9,000-plus votes was greeted with moderate cheers and claps in the hall.

Speaking to reporters after the declaration, Count Binface addressed Farage’s claims. “I asked Essex police if there was any credible threat of disruption here and I can tell you they said unequivocally no, it was safe to go ahead,” he said.

He also referenced the prospect of a re-run of the Clacton byelection should the parliamentary standards commission find against Farage. He said: “Let’s all meet for part 2 of the Clacton byelection, coming soon to a leisure centre near you.”

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 £5m gift is due to restart as soon as Friday.

Farage 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, which the Guardian attempted to join.

After a 25-minute or so drive from the count, at an airbase far away from the heart of Clacton-on-Sea, a lone guard sat in complete darkness beside a sign that read Farage Fest.

After getting through this initial security checkpoint and parking up, there was a trudge through a dark country lane. Soon, the festival came into full view, with a lit-up ferris wheel, tents and Farage himself at about 3.30am, visible through a gated fence.

But after reaching the entrance, undercover security guards intervened and said it was a ticketed event. They asked the Guardian to leave and trailed behind while leaving the premises.

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.

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.

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”. Count Binface , the self-declared “entirely independent space warrior” created by the comedian Jon Harvey, emerged as Farage’s strongest challenger.

Bridget Phillipson, the minister for women and equalities, told Sky News after the result that there was “no hiding place now” for Farage and he must “answer to the public”.

After standing in multiple British parliamentary elections since 1994, Farage was elected to the Commons as the member for Clacton in 2024. He won the seat with a majority of 8,400, taking 46.2% of the vote. The Conservatives came second and Labour third.