Nigel Farage has dramatically announced he will boycott the Clacton by-election count after revealing he received an Essex Police warning. Speaking to a packed audience at the "Farage-Fest" Reform UK event in Clacton-on-Sea at 3am while votes were still being counted, the Reform UK leader declared victory before the count had finished.
Police Warning Over Disruption
Farage revealed he had been contacted by Essex Police in relation to the by-election result. He said: "There is an organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result that will take place in a few hours time."
He added: "And once again it shows you the sheer intolerance, the sheer loss of democratic principles, that those who went before us fought in world wars to fight for and preserve."
Victory Speech at Farage-Fest
Earlier in his speech, Farage said: "I have asked the people of Clacton to be my jury, and the verdict has now come in." To chants of "Nigel-Nigel", he said Reform had secured more votes than in the 2024 general election, beating the "uni-party" candidate Count Binface.
He said: "On the hottest day of the year, in the middle of August, in holiday season, we have secured more votes than we got in the general election of 2024. And in doing so we have beaten the candidate for the uni-party."
Widdecombe Tribute and Investigation
Farage paid tribute to murdered MP Ann Widdecombe, whose funeral was on Thursday, saying she was killed for her "deep Christian convictions". He blamed "an intolerance that had swept though the left-wing politics of Britain" for her death, "aided, abetted and incited every single days by broadcasters and national newspapers."
He stated that the investigation into Widdecombe's murder had been widened to include matters he had been involved in, saying: "When the truth comes out the public will be truly, truly shocked."
