Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election, securing a convincing victory over Count Binface and increasing his vote count from the last general election by just over 1,000. The result means the Reform leader’s resignation gamble last month – triggering what he pitched as a ‘people versus the establishment’ fight – appears to have paid off.
Farage’s victory and Binface’s strong showing
Count Binface, a comedy candidate who wears a bin on his head and describes himself as an ‘intergalactic space warrior’, won 26.7% of the vote. Farage faced no serious competition from other major parties, as none of the parties that might typically be considered the ‘political establishment’ opted to take part in the by-election.
Within hours of Farage wrapping up his resignation speech last month, his five biggest potential rivals – the Conservatives, Restore Britain, Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party – all pulled out, branding the move a political stunt. That left Count Binface as his unlikely top opponent in the race.
Absence from the count and cancelled speech
The Reform leader did not turn up to the count, telling supporters that Essex Police had told him there was a plan to ‘disrupt and degrade’ him if he went along. BBC News later reported that Essex Police had not advised any candidate that they should not attend the count.
A victory speech planned by Farage for later this morning has been cancelled, with no reason provided by Reform. Today’s result also means the investigation into his financial affairs by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will automatically restart.
Investigation into finances resumes
Daniel Greenberg had been looking into whether Farage broke parliamentary rules by not declaring a £5 million ‘gift’ given to him by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne ahead of the 2024 general election. If he finds that he did, it could prompt another by-election in the constituency – one in which Farage may face stiffer competition.
In the speech announcing his resignation last month, Farage said he believes he ‘absolutely obeyed’ the rules dictating how MPs should behave. He told Metro earlier this week: ‘I did not want to resign as your MP and have this by-election. But the political establishment forced it upon me.’
Binface’s high-profile campaign
The novelty candidate – who has previously run against Boris Johnson, Sadiq Khan, Rishi Sunak and Andy Burnham – had his most high-profile campaign so far in Clacton. In the five weeks since the contest started, he has made appearances on Newsnight and popular podcast The Rest Is Politics, as well as earning a profile piece in the New York Times. Under the costume, he is played by comedian Jon Harvey, who has written for shows including Have I Got News For You and The Thick of It.
Ahead of the result, Farage said: ‘Binface is backed by the three biggest parties in Britain, historically. He is the establishment candidate.’ A More in Common poll published on Wednesday found that 37% of Brits wanted Binface to win the by-election, compared to 32% who backed Farage.
However, victory would have required overturning Farage’s 8,400 majority from the previous general election in a constituency that previously voted 70% for Brexit. There was also the intimidating spectacle of 34 names on the ballot paper – a record for a British parliamentary election. Alongside Farage and Binface, they included the actor turned right-wing activist Laurence Fox and three separate candidates from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
