STORY
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been returned to Parliament after winning the Clacton by-election with 22,239 votes. Farage secured 63.34% of votes cast, while Count Binface finished second with 9,455 votes, or 26.93%. Turnout in the Essex constituency was 44.37%.
The contest featured a record 34 candidates, the largest field in a UK parliamentary election. Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens did not field candidates after Farage resigned his seat in July and announced that he would immediately seek re-election. The by-election followed scrutiny of a £5 million gift Farage received from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne and questions over whether it had been properly declared.
Farage increased his share of the vote from the 46.2% he secured when he first won Clacton at the 2024 general election. His return to Parliament also means an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into his financial interests can resume after being paused during the election period.