Nigel Farage returns to Parliament after Clacton by-election win

Will Meakin-Durrant, Press Association Political Staff

Nigel Farage has returned to Parliament after his by-election victory.

The Reform UK leader vacated his seat on the House of Commons’ green benches earlier this year, to trigger a poll in the Clacton constituency.

When he contested his former seat, he won the poll with a majority of 12,784, ahead of Count Binface, the self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” persona of Jon Harvey.

Mr Farage was sworn in on Tuesday, holding a Christian Bible in his right hand.

He faces a parliamentary investigation into a £5 million gift he received from the crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne before he was first elected to the Commons in 2024.

Nigel Farage 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 did 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.

“I’m not scared”

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”.

Resignation

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.

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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