Parliament re-opened an investigation into the party leader’s finances after he defeated an array of novelty characters and fringe candidates.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has won a by-election he triggered when he stood down last month, beating an array of novelty characters and fringe party candidates after the main parties refused to stand candidates.
Farage resigned from parliament on July 7, saying he wanted to seek a fresh mandate from voters. He characterized the contest as a war against an establishment bent on discrediting him for allegedly taking undeclared gifts from donors.
Farage did not attend the overnight vote count in the English south-east seaside resort of Clacton, saying that Essex police had advised him that there was “an active campaign to disrupt and degrade the result.”
In an Aug. 14 statement provided to media outlets, Essex police said, “the decision of candidates to attend or not attend the election count is a decision for individuals and their security teams.”
Before the result was announced in the early hours of Friday, Farage told supporters, “I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory … and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.”
The Reform leader, 62, was expected to win the seat back in a landslide after the other main parties declined to stand candidates. Despite the absence of the main parties, the election featured 34 candidates, including 20 independents.
Farage’s closest challenger was serial election contender Count Binface, a character created by BBC comedian Jonathan Harvey. The silver-caped character, who wears a trash can on his head, was given substantial media coverage during the campaign, including being interviewed on the BBC’s flagship Newsnight program.
Farage’s victory was never really in doubt, with opinion polls predicting a resounding victory. In the end, he received 22,239 votes, or 63 percent of the vote.
Binface finished second on 27 percent with 9,455 votes. Turnout was 44 percent.
