Nigel Farage won the Clacton by-election.
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.
Speaking at an event organised by Reform UK in Essex on the same night as the count, the party’s leader celebrating surpassing the 21,225 votes he received just over two years ago.
Mr Farage said: “The verdict is now in, and it is a convincing, overwhelming win with more votes than we got in the General Election of 2024.
“In doing so we have beaten the candidate for the ‘uni-party’. Yes there were Liberal Democrats, Labour, Conservative canvassers out canvassing for Count Binface. What an upside-down world it is, where Count Binface is now the candidate of the establishment.”
He added: “Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.”
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”.
open image in galleryA 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 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.”
Results
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.
The full results of the Clacton by-election, with the figures not adjusted for spoiled ballots:
Reform hold*Nigel Farage (Reform) 22,239 (63.34%, +17.16%)
Count Binface (Binface) 9,455 (26.93%)
John Stevens (Rejoin) 492 (1.40%)
Tony Francis (Ind) 432 (1.23%)
Pamela Walford (Ind) 371 (1.06%)
Laurence Fox (Reclaim) 347 (0.99%)
William Clouston (SDP) 256 (0.73%)
Nick Pelas (Ind) 202 (0.58%)
James Ransley (Consensus) 192 (0.55%)
Stephen Ingram (Ind) 159 (0.45%)
Kai Stephens (BDP) 132 (0.38%)
Attieh Fard (Ind) 126 (0.36%)
Derrick Morris (Ind) 100 (0.28%)
Martyn OBrien (Ind) 65 (0.19%)
Martin Davies (FA) 60 (0.17%)
Robin Green (Ind) 59 (0.17%)
Rees Cowne (Ind) 50 (0.14%)
Adham Alkhatip (Forward) 49 (0.14%)
Amy Morris (Ind) 46 (0.13%)
Andy Erlam (Ind) 44 (0.13%)
Joseph 77 (Ind) 42 (0.12%)
Nick The Incredible Flying Brick (Loony) 28 (0.08%)
Ketankumar Pipaliya (Voice) 21 (0.06%)
Michael O’Keefe (Ind) 19 (0.05%)
Howling Laud Hope (Loony) 18 (0.05%)
Tony Cane (Ind) 17 (0.05%)
Daniel Pocock (ND) 16 (0.05%)
Baron Von Thunderclap (Loony) 15 (0.04%)
Abi Hookway (Ind) 14 (0.04%)
Marc Wilkinson (Ind) 11 (0.03%)
Marcus White (Everyone) 10 (0.03%)
Gerry Smith (Ind) 9 (0.03%)
Woke Trump Carrzee (Ind) 8 (0.02%)
Glenn Cummings (Ind) 7 (0.02%)
Reform majority 12,784 (36.41%)
Electorate 79,785;
Turnout 35,111 (44.01%, -14.39%)