The Reform UK leader claimed there was a ‘credible threat’ against him attending the count
Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election, but he did not attend the count over disputed claims of a “credible threat” against him.
The Reform UK leader secured 22,232 votes, comfortably winning the by-election he triggered by deciding to stand down amidst ongoing scrutiny over his financial affairs. His next closest challenger, Count Binface, secured 9455 votes.
However, Mr Farage did not appear at the count alongside the other candidates after he claimed that Essex Police informed him about a threat against him.
He told reporters: “I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory…. and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.”
However, Essex Police said it had “robust” policing in place at the count and did not tell any candidate not to attend, The Independent understands.
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”.
Luke Tryl, UK director at More in Common, said: “The result is a tale of two numbers. Farage’s raw vote total of 22,000, above his 2024 vote, in an August, semi-uncontested by-election, is impressive, suggesting no diminution of enthusiasm among his supporters, and some new converts.
“But his 63 per cent vote share is at the lower end of expectations, a reminder that his opponents are highly motivated to turn out too, whoever the main challenger is, giving Binface nearly 10,000 votes.
“That doesn’t matter in Clacton, which had the highest combined ‘right’ vote in the country in 2024. But in swing seats, where the opposition unites, and the Tories refuse to be squeezed, the ‘anti-Farage’ vote becomes a real problem. We saw anti-Reform tactical voting and turnout play out in Makerfield and in Gorton and Denton.
“In our Clacton focus groups we heard both sides. Voters who enthusiastically backed Farage and saw the finance row as an establishment stitch-up, or “no worse than what other politicians do”, but also many on the right, including former Conservative voters, angered by what they saw as an unnecessary by-election and willing to vote, or sit the contest out, in order to send Farage a message.
“That intensity mattered less under Starmer, when the left were more divided. But if Andy Burnham manages to unite the left and lead Labour into the next General Election, there will be a greater premium on Reform thinking about how to detoxify their brand, both to win back their wavering voters and to reassure the wider public to avoid mobilising the anti-Farage vote.”
Here we take a closer look at the results:
Bridget Phillipson said police were “used to dealing with high-profile situations” but it was “hard to know” what had happened that meant Nigel Farage did not attend the Clacton by-election count.
Asked about Reform UK’s contested claim that police had advised him not to go, she told Sky News: “Well, of course, the safety of politicians is of the utmost importance and no-one should face threats or intimidation because of who they are and the job that they’re seeking to do.
“I don’t know exactly what’s gone on here, but like you, I’ve heard what the police have had to say, that they’ve pushed back a bit on on that suggestion, and I know that Nigel Farage is facing some criticism, even from within his own ranks, that he’s not, wasn’t, prepared to be at the count.
“And, you know, those who are responsible for running counts and the police oversight of that, they’re used to dealing with high-profile situations. But, you know, I think people will come to their own conclusions. It’s hard to know. Nigel Farage has given one version of events and we’ve heard something a bit different from the police responsible.”
Bridget Phillipson said there was “no hiding place now” for Nigel Farage after the Clacton by-election concluded and he must “answer to the public”.
The Labour chairwoman told Sky News: “Nigel Farage can set out to the public exactly what’s been going on in recent weeks and months, all of the sleaze and the scandal that Reform has been engulfed in, whether it’s the £5 million dodgy gift or his connections to a convicted fraudster, these are just piling up.
“There’s no hiding place now and Nigel Farage needs to answer to the public as to exactly what’s going on. And this distraction by-election, that’s out of the way now, so we can get on with it.”
Reform leader forced a by-election to try to escape a political crisis but may simply have postponed, and even intensified, the inevitable, writes Kate Devlin:
The by-election campaign in Clacton, with a man with a bin on his head a favourite among the record 34 candidates, was not short of a few surprises.
But news that Nigel Farage has reclaimed his seat will come as a shock to no one.
The Reform UK leader will hail today’s result in Clacton as a victory against the establishment after taking 62.8 per cent of the vote, with his chief rival, Count Binface, in a distant second with 26.71 per cent.
Nigel Farage is the MP for Clacton once again after winning the by-election he triggered just over a month ago.
The Reform UK leader will return to parliament with a boosted vote share of 63 per cent from the coastal constituency, and having received just over 100 more votes overall than in 2024.
Political satirist Count Binface came second, receiving just under 27 per cent of the vote – more than Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Greens combined in the 2024 general election, and nearly equal to the Conservatives.
Sir John Curtice said voters turned out in “numbers that are quite healthy by the standards of modern by-elections” in Clacton.
The professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde said Nigel Farage did not do as well as David Davis, who won 72 per cent of the vote in 2008, “in the one by-election that is most similar to this one”.
Sir John told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “The argument that was being used by Farage’s opponents is this was a stunt; it was a farce, as exemplified by the fact that Count Binface was seemingly his own serious candidate.
“Reform will now be able to point out not only as a result of the high turnout, the number of votes that they’ve got, but that also that evidently at 44 per cent, the turnout is 10 points above what happened in David Davis’s by-election.
“It’s not much below what it was in either Runcorn or Gorton and Denton in the by-elections there, and it was actually higher than the two parliamentary by-elections in Scotland recently.
“Therefore, I think they will be able to argue that, for the voters at least, it is not obvious that they regarded this as a stunt or a farce.
“They did turn out in numbers that are quite healthy by the standards of modern by-elections.”
Deputy Reform leader Richard Tice suggested it was Nigel Farage’s “team” who judged that “there was sufficient anxiety, and concern, and threats” which meant he should avoid the count.
Asked if he could say anything else about the information the party claimed to have received, he told GB News: “No, I can’t. But I think we should just trust those tasked with keeping Nigel safe and alive, I hesitate to say, but that’s what the task is.
“And if a credible threat is perceived or a deep anxiety, whatever you want to term it, clearly they’re going to err on the side of caution, and that’s just the reality.
“So, yes, of course, it’s a shame he would have loved to have been there, but security is paramount, and everybody knows we’ve had a very, very difficult few weeks and last couple of months.”
Lee Anderson said he had not spoken to Nigel Farage about the claim he had been advised not to attend the Clacton by-election count.
Asked about the claim that Essex Police had advised him not to attend, which the Press Association understands is not the case, the Reform UK MP said “sometimes some of these police forces that we’ve been dealing with recently are about as honest as you lot at the BBC”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I’ve not spoken to Nigel about this. I’ve not spoken to Essex Police.
“If Nigel gets up on stage and says that he’s been advised not to attend the event, then I believe Nigel above the police, and especially above you lot at the BBC.”
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