Nigel Farage has won back the Clacton seat he gave up last month, taking more votes in the by-election than he did at the 2024 general election. The result was declared shortly after 6am on August 14.
The Reform UK leader polled 22,239 votes in the Essex coastal constituency, against the 21,225 he received in July 2024. His share rose to almost 63 per cent and his majority to 12,784.
Second place went to Count Binface, a satirical candidate created by the comedian Jonathan Harvey, on 9,455 votes. A record 34 names appeared on a ballot paper measuring 90cm, and 32 of them lost their deposits.
The Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain all declined to stand, dismissing the contest as a stunt designed to distract from a parliamentary standards case. That left Farage facing a field of independents, fringe parties and joke candidates.
Turnout fell to 44.4 per cent, down from 58.7 per cent at the general election.
Farage did not attend the declaration at Clacton Leisure Centre, breaking with convention. He said Essex Police had told him of an “organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result”, and that he would not be humiliated on stage by rival candidates.
Speaking to supporters hours before the official count, he described the outcome as a convincing win and an endorsement of his record. Reform UK later cancelled a speech he had been due to give in the town at 10.30am.
He had resigned the seat on July 8 by accepting the office of Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, after reports that he failed to declare a £5 million (€5.8 million) gift received from the crypto investor Christopher Harborne around the time of the 2024 election.
Farage has consistently described the payment as a personal gift to fund his security rather than a political donation, and denies breaching any rule. Brussels Signal reported in July that banks had filed suspicious activity reports with the National Crime Agency over separate transactions linked to the party.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened a formal inquiry into the gift on May 13. It was paused for the by-election and resumes now that Farage is an MP again, with a report not expected before September.
Days before polling, Farage pledged to remove every foreign national from prisons in England and Wales, sending those whose home countries refuse them to third states including El Salvador.
