Farage claims ‘overwhelming endorsement’ with Clacton by-election win

Harry Taylor, Sam Russell and George Lithgow, Press Association

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election amid contested claims he was told by police not to attend the election count due to a “credible threat” against him.

The Reform UK leader pre-empted the official declaration by telling supporters he had won “fairly convincingly” and the result on the hottest day of the year was an “overwhelming endorsement” of him.

However 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, the Press Association understands Essex Police did not tell Mr Farage, or any other candidate, not to attend the count.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: “We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.”

Mr Farage won with 22,239 votes, with Count Binface in second place on 9,455 votes. Mr Farage secured a 12,784 majority, 62.82% of the vote.

This is up from his 8,405 vote majority, 46.2%, when he won at the 2024 general election. The result was declared shortly after 6am.

Turnout was 44.37%, down by just over 14%.

A total of 32 of the record-34 candidates lost their deposit.

Mr Farage told supporters at an all-night “Farage-fest” event organised by Reform in Essex he would not be attending the count: “I’m not scared of these people, far from it.

“But I’m damned if I’m going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory, a ringing endorsement of all that I’ve tried to fight for, and you’ve tried to fight for, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies, and I will not sadly be attending the count.”

Mr Farage was due to make what was billed as a “major speech” in Clacton at 10.30am on Friday, but Reform cancelled it, saying he had “already commented on the expected result of the by-election”.

In his speech, Mr Farage said, hours before the result was formally declared: “The verdict is now in, and it is a convincing, overwhelming win with more votes than we got in the general election of 2024.”

He added: “Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.”

He earlier told GB News: “Look, this is an overwhelming endorsement of me. I have had enough of being judged by mainstream media, being called a criminal.

“Do you know, if I made one sin, if I haven’t filled in a piece of paper, I’ve broken no law, I’ve broken no tax law, I’ve taken no public money, I don’t even own a motorhome.”

Council acting returning officer and chief executive Ian Davidson said he did not know that Mr Farage would not attend the count until the Reform UK leader announced it in his speech to his supporters.

“It is up to individual candidates’ wish to or do not wish to attend the count, but as far as we’re concerned we will be able to complete this count successfully and safely for all the candidates, my staff here and all the visitors,” Mr Davidson said.

“I am not aware of what has been said, or what that threat is.”

Mr Davidson said Essex Police had assigned an assistant chief constable as part of a “Gold Command” policing operation.

He said he did not believe there was any threat serious enough for the count to be called off, but that he could not comment further on security matters.

The by-election was triggered by Mr Farage’s resignation over scrutiny of donations from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne. Labour and the Conservatives said his victory would not draw a line under the controversy.

A record 34 candidates were standing, with satirical candidate Count Binface as Mr Farage’s main challenger, after the other mainstream parties declined to stand.

Speaking to Sky News, Count Binface, a character created by comedian Jonathan David Harvey, referred to the possibility of a second by-election in the seat if Mr Farage is found to have broken Parliamentary rules.

He said: “You just said at the beginning of this interview that Nigel Farage is claiming victory, but in that case it’s going to be a two-legged match like the Carabao Cup or the Cold War, because we’re going to be back again in a few weeks aren’t we? We’ll see what happens then.”

He added: “Even if I got to 12%, so one-in-eight people in Clacton would rather vote for a space warrior shaped like a bin than Nigel Farage.”

Labour Chair Ms Phillipson said: “This is no victory for Nigel Farage. The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.

“This morning, Nigel Farage shouldn’t be celebrating – he should wake up and smell the coffee. He must come clean with the public and put all the facts on the table over his secret £5 million gift, his relationship with a convicted fraudster, and the other scandals his Party is drowning in.

“Farage’s distraction by-election doesn’t clear his name – it just shows he likely has so much more to hide.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage called this fake by-election in a desperate attempt to draw a line under the questions surrounding his fishy £5 million donation.

“Whatever the outcome on Friday, this stunt has not done that.”

Before quitting Westminster, Mr Farage was being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a £5 million gift from Mr Harborne, which he received before taking his seat in the Commons.

Under Commons rules, new MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

That investigation was paused when Mr Farage resigned his seat but will resume if he wins the by-election – as bookmakers have made him the firm favourite to do.

Mr Farage could also face an investigation over support provided by George Cottrell, a long-term ally.

If he is found to have broken the rules and a suspension of more than 10 days is imposed, it could trigger a recall petition and the prospect of Mr Farage facing a second by-election.

Responding to the results of the Clacton by-election, Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “Nigel Farage seems to have spent more time in Clacton over the past few weeks campaigning to beat a bin than he has done over the course of two years as the MP. But the truth is that he made a mockery of the electoral system by demanding a by-election to avoid being held to account. Then he refused to attend the count to avoid mockery himself. These are the actions of a desperate egoist.

“But he cannot avoid scrutiny forever and today’s result proves nothing. As Farage returns to Parliament, the investigation into the undeclared £5 million donation will continue, and only when that process is concluded will we have full transparency.

“People in Wales saw through Reform’s politics of division and chose hope instead. Plaid Cymru’s victory in the Senedd election a few months ago shows that Reform UK can be defeated, and that is what we will do once again in next year’s local elections.”

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