Nigel Farage was at the centre of a growing row over not attending the Clacton by-election count due to an alleged “threat” against him.
Reform UK's Claim and Police Response
Reform UK said the party leader had been “advised” by Essex Police not to go to the count due to “a credible threat against him”. But it is understood that the force did not advise any candidate not to turn up for the official declaration.
Mr Farage won the contest, which the main other parties were not contesting, with 22,239 votes, or 62.8%. Count Binface came second on 9,455 votes, nearly 27%, with 32 other candidates having entered the race.
If he had gone to the count, Mr Farage would have faced photos and clips of him next to the Count, the space and electoral warrior character created by comedian Jon Harvey, being beamed around the world.
Victory Declaration and Absence Explanation
The Reform leader proclaimed victory before the official announcement. He said he would not attend the official declaration of the result at Clacton Leisure Centre as Essex Police had told him about an “organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result”.
A Reform UK spokesperson later said: “Essex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count tonight due to a credible threat against him.” However, it is understood that Essex Police did not tell Mr Farage, or any other candidate, not to attend the count.
A force spokesperson said: “We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.” Police forces very rarely give direct guidance to politicians not to attend counts and instead are far more likely to raise potential threats or other issues and it is down to individual candidates to decide how they respond.
Official Reactions and Full Statement
Deputy Reform leader Richard Tice later suggested it was Mr Farage’s “team” who judged that “there was sufficient anxiety, and concern, and threats” which meant he should avoid the count. Tendring Council acting returning officer and chief executive Ian Davidson, though, said he did not believe there was any threat serious enough for the count to be called off.
Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said: “I don’t know exactly what’s gone on here, but I’ve heard what the police have had to say, that they’ve pushed back a bit on that suggestion (of advice not to attend). And I know that Nigel Farage is facing some criticism, even from within his own ranks, that he wasn’t prepared to be at the count.”
Amid the confusion, here is Essex Police’s statement in full: “We have a full and robust policing operation in place around the Clacton by-election, as we do with all significant elections in our county, “Throughout polling day our officers were visible right across Clacton and the Tendring district. We visited all 51 polling stations, our officers were out and visible on foot, in vehicles and our drone team patrolled by air.”
It continued: “Our aim was to ensure the people of Clacton were able to go about their daily business, that people were able to cast their vote safely and that the count took place without issue. “We are pleased to say all of these things happened and there were no incidents or issues throughout yesterday and into the early hours of this morning. We worked closely with Tendring District Council and their security teams throughout. “We take the safety and security of our elected officials extremely seriously and equally we take our policing responsibilities around the democratic process seriously too. “The decision of candidates to attend or not attend the election count is a decision for individuals and their security teams, our role is to make sure our policing operation is sufficiently robust to ensure the safety of all and we are grateful to all of our officers, staff and the staff at Tendring District Council who worked through the night to ensure the safety of all.”
