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 (62.8%) of the vote.
His nearest competitor, Count Binface, a parody candidate dressed as an intergalactic rubbish bin, won 9,455 votes (26.7%). The turnout was 44%.
Farage had been widely expected to win. 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, citing advice from Essex police who he said had advised 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.
The Guardian attempted to access Farage Fest and managed to get through initial security checkpoints, trudging through a dark country lane to get sight of a lit-up ferris wheel, festival 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 the journalist left 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.
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.
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 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.
