Farage beats Binface: Reform leader wins 'farcical' Clacton by-election with 62.8% after being forced to take on a raft of comedy candidates to keep his seat - but celebrates from afar after missing count over 'threat'

By MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER Published: 06:07, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 06:28, 14 August 2026 Nigel Farage today won the Clacton by-election after being forced to defend his seat against a string of comedy candidates led by Count Binface. Mr Farage won 22,239 votes, 62.8% of the total vote, more than the 21,225 votes he secured when he was elected at the 2024 general election. Count Binface, a comedian standing as a 5,900-year-old space warrior whose key policy was to freeze the price of ice cream in Clacton, was second with 9,455 votes, 26.7% of the total vote.  The Reform UK leader had triggered the poll and cast it as a 'people versus the Establishment' contest amid mounting questions over a £5million donation from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne. However, the inquiry into Mr Harborne's donation has yet to conclude, and Mr Farage could still face another by-election within months if he is found to have broken parliamentary rules. Mr Farage, 62, sparked chaos and confusion today when he declared himself the winner and then took the unprecedented step of missing the count to hear the result, with his party claiming police had advised him to stay away due to a 'credible threat'. '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, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies, and I will not, sadly, be attending the count,' Mr Farage told supporters.  A Reform UK spokesman said: 'Essex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count due to a credible threat against him', adding his planned 'victory lap' of Clacton and speech later today have also been cancelled. However, Essex Constabulary then denied that it had told any of the 34 candidates that they should not attend Clacton Leisure Centre, insisting security at the venue was 'robust'. Mr Farage had instead delivered his victory speech at a fairground-style rally with Ferris wheel nearby dubbed 'Farage Fest'. He 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. Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.' The major parties boycotted yesterday's by-election, branding it a 'farce' and a 'stunt', leaving Mr Farage to face 33 rivals on the longest ballot paper in British electoral history. They included Count Binface, Howling Laud Hope, Nick the Incredible Flying Brick and Baron Von Thunderclap. Your browser does not support iframes. Nigel Farage (pictured during his 3am victory speech) has won the Clacton by-election, called after he resigned as MP, but spoke at Reform's so-called 'Farage Fest', with Reform claiming Essex Police had warned him to stay away from the count Count Binface celebrates as he came second in the Clacton by-election. He kept his deposit for the first time after winning 9,455 votes, 26.7% of the total votes cast Mr Farage said his victory vindicated his decision to resign as an MP last month and seek a fresh mandate from voters, despite Binface securing one in five votes. 'I was right to do this. This is an overwhelming endorsement of me,' the Brexiteer said. Asked about the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner's investigation into his finances, he replied: 'Who cares? Who cares? The voters of Clacton don't care.' He added: 'Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative canvassers have been out for Binface. They aren't going to win. The uni-party aren't going to win. They won't call a second by-election here. They would be stupid to do so.' But Count Binface said today's result did not matter because 'we'll be back again in a few weeks anyway'. Mr Farage faces awkward questions after the result because, while he increased his share of the vote from 46.2 per cent to around 62.8 per cent, around a third of voters backed novelty candidates with no policies and no realistic prospect of winning. With the £250,000 by-election sowing seeds of discontent even among some of Farage's most loyal supporters, his 8,405 majority in 2024 increased to around 11,000. Count Binface, whose key pledges included keeping ice creams with flakes at 99p, making arcade grabber games fairer and filling potholes with the 2024 Labour manifesto, won more than 26 per cent of the vote, with 9,455 votes. He became the first comedy candidate in parliamentary history to save his deposit after pulling in thousands of votes in the record-breaking 34-candidate contest, which featured three Monster Raving Loony Party hopefuls and former actor Laurence Fox. The turnout was slightly higher than expected, at 44.37%, lower than the 52.5% at Andy Burnham's Makerfield by-election victory last month. But Mr Farage was not in the hall to hear the result - and the first election winner to miss the declaration since IRA member Bobby Sands, who had died in prison after a hunger strike. Acting returning officer Ian Davidson, for Tendring District Council, announced over the tannoy system that Mr Farage would not be attending. 'I just want to say we work very closely with Essex Police and have done so throughout this process and continue to do so tonight,' said Mr Davidson. 'We will continue with the count as we always do in a safe and secure manner.' 'I will not comment on security matters, but I am going to say that we are working closely with Essex Police and we have just had a further meeting and there is no issue in terms of completing the count tonight,' he said.  Essex Police denied they advised him to stay away and said in a statement: 'We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.'  Clacton by-election acting returning officer Ian Davidson declined to comment on the claims, but said officials worked closely with police and that he was confident the count was safe to continue. He admitted he 'didn't know' Mr Farage was not attending until he announced it himself, adding: 'I am not aware of what that threat is.' Mr Farage had declared himself the 'fairly convincing' winner at around 1am while celebrating at his 'Farage Fest' in the Essex Countryside, which included fairground rides and a Ferris wheel. The Reform UK leader's re-election to Parliament was confirmed at around 6am when the count was completed at Clacton Leisure Centre. In a barbed comment aimed at Binface, Mr Farage said: 'I have managed to beat the establishment candidate.' Binface hit back, saying the by-election had shown that a huge number of people in Clacton 'would rather vote for a space warrior shaped like a bin than Nigel Farage'. He added: 'It says more about what the actual population thinks about Nigel Farage than maybe this election.' Former Reform UK parliamentary candidate Pamela Walford, who stood as an independent, said Mr Farage's by-election had turned Clacton into the 'laughing stock of the world'.  The leader of the Monster Raving Loony Party, Howling Laud Hope, said: 'Binface is the poor man's loony. We're the most sensible part of the lot.' Mr Farage may yet face another by-election there in 2026 if he is found to have broken parliamentary rules by taking millions from Mr Harborne before taking his seat in the Commons two years ago. He also faces a second investigation over undeclared donations from his close friend George Cottrell, who was convicted of wire fraud in the US, with the sleaze inquiries not expected to conclude until September at the earliest. '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,' he said of the donation this morning. 'Maybe I haven’t filled in a piece of paper. I’m confident that I’m right, we’ll see where we go. I put this to the people of Clacton, said ‘you decide my future’, and tonight they will.' If the committee recommends suspending Mr Farage for more than 10 days, and he loses any appeal, his constituents would have the right to trigger another Clacton by-election that the major parties are more likely to contest. Count Binface said: 'It might just be that this election is the start of a two-legged match, like the Carabao Cup or the Cold War. The game isn't over yet, because we're going to be back again in a few weeks aren't we? We'll see what happens then.' Your browser does not support iframes. Police officers outside the count for the Clacton by-election at Clacton Leisure Centre in Essex Candidates including Binface are briefed on the result, but Mr Farage stayed away Neither Labour, the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats fielded candidates on Thursday, dismissing the contest as an expensive 'farce' called because the Reform leader is allegedly 'up to his neck in sleaze'.  Mr Farage had triggered the by-election by resigning as Clacton's MP in early July, insisting voters should decide whether he deserved to continue in office amid scrutiny of his financial affairs. The Reform leader argued a fresh mandate was the only way to break the 'paralysis' engulfing Reform UK as questions swirled around crypto-currency donations, undeclared benefits and his personal finances. But while Mr Farage claimed vindication after securing re-election, critics accused him of turning the Essex seaside town into a 'circus' featuring Count Binface, Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox and dozens of independents and novelty candidates. The result came at a difficult time for Reform, with recent polls suggesting Labour has edged ahead of Mr Farage's party nationally. Mr Farage is under investigation by Parliament's standards commissioner over a £5million donation from crypto entrepreneur Christopher Harborne that was not declared after the 2024 general election. The Clacton MP has also faced questions over support provided by long-time ally George Cottrell, who reportedly funded staff and accommodation used by the Reform leader before and after last year's election. Mr Farage insists he has done nothing wrong and says all support he received complied with the rules. However, if the standards commissioner were to uphold complaints against him, it could potentially trigger further political consequences and renewed scrutiny of his position and another by-election in Clacton is locals demand it. The Reform leader defended his decision to force yesterday's by-election, saying it gave residents the chance to act as 'the judges of my actions'. Announcing his resignation last month, he said: 'I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all.' He added: 'This will be a people versus the Establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire Establishment.' But opponents argued the move backfired. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch mocked the contest, saying: 'If it's the people versus the establishment, I think Nigel Farage might be looking like the establishment, and Count Binface may be the people. This whole thing is a farce.' A spokesman for Andy Burnham described the vote as a 'gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage's funders'. Keir Starmer previously claimed Mr Farage had 'run himself into a cul-de-sac' by quitting as an MP and forcing a by-election and was 'up to his neck in sleeze'. One of the biggest talking points of the contest was the performance of Count Binface, who became the first comedy candidate ever to retain a parliamentary deposit. The self-described '5,900-year-old space warrior' won thousands of votes after campaigning on promises including 'building one affordable house' and 'nationalising Adele'. Before Thursday's result, the late Screaming Lord Sutch was widely regarded as Britain's most successful novelty election candidate. In the 1994 Rotherham by-election he secured around 1,100 votes and 4.2 per cent of the vote, still short of the 5 per cent threshold required to recover his deposit. Mr Farage had repeatedly accused the major parties of secretly 'working together' by refusing to contest the seat and undermining his attempt to frame the vote as a battle against the establishment. He comfortably won Clacton at the 2024 general election with a majority of 8,405 and 46.2 per cent of the vote. The by-election is also likely to prove expensive. The average cost of a Westminster by-election is around £240,000, but Clacton's bill is expected to be significantly higher because it featured the longest ballot paper in British electoral history. Tendring Council admitted printing costs were around four times higher than normal because of the 34-candidate field. Alongside Count Binface, an intergalactic space warrior played by Jonathan Harvey who has stood at elections since 2017 and has never received more than 308 votes, the people of Clacton were largely presented with a string of eccentric oddballs. Questions over Mr Farage's finances have continued to dog him throughout the campaign. The £5million donation from Mr Harborne was not declared when Mr Farage entered Parliament, with the Reform leader arguing the money was a personal payment linked to security costs and his role in Brexit. Today's by-election had 34 candidates - making it the longest ballot paper in British electoral history at around 3ft long. But it was a two-horse race between Farage and Binface He has also refused to distance himself from Mr Cottrell, saying he will not abandon his friend. Meanwhile, Reform's position in the polls has slipped since the by-election was announced. A recent Daily Mail poll-of-polls put Labour on 25 per cent, narrowly ahead of Reform on 24 per cent, with the Conservatives on 20 per cent. Mr Farage's personal ratings have also come under pressure amid the row over his finances and his decision to trigger the vote. One recent poll suggested his net approval rating had fallen sharply in the weeks after the by-election was called, leaving him with his lowest rating since returning as Reform leader more than two years ago. Yet despite the criticism, Mr Farage will argue that voters in Clacton have delivered the verdict that matters most, handing him another victory in the seat he risked everything to defend. Your browser does not support iframes.