Dawn had long broken in the Essex town of Clacton-on-Sea when the results for the byelection came in. After a gruelling count, an atmosphere of deep exhaustion had settled over the room. Even the man with a dustbin on his head looked weary.
As it was declared that Nigel Farage had won, as expected, there was no cheering in the room, which had been boycotted by the Reform UK leader and his supporters; instead there was only an overwhelming sense of futility.
Farage forced the byelection at the start of July in an attempt take control of a narrative tide that had turned against him. After the Guardian revealed he had received a £5m personal gift from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, in April 2024, he had been dogged by questions about his financial backing. Other revelations followed and questions mounted.
The parliamentary standards watchdog announced it was opening a formal investigation into gifts received by Farage, and his regular long press conferences abruptly stopped. When he did a very limited number of interviews, Farage, normally performatively affable, was testy and defensive.
He resigned as the MP for the Clacton constituency at the start of July, saying the “people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions”, and billing the fight as a “people versus the establishment” byelection. The establishment, however, chose not to play. All of the major parties declined to field candidates and take part in what they called a “media circus” and “vanity project”.
Instead, Count Binface, the self-declared “entirely independent space warrior” created by the comedian Jon Harvey, stepped into the void. It felt, at times, less like an election campaign and more of a showcase for British humour, the ultimate distillation of the concept of a summer “silly season” of news.
And while the people of Clacton did back Farage again, it was no overwhelming victory. He won 22,239 votes, 63.34% of the vote. Convincing, yes, but significantly short of the 72% won by David Davis in 2008 when he resigned his seat and stood again as a protest over the issue of civil liberties.
With no other mainstream options, the parody candidate Count Binface, was Farage’s nearest competitor, winning 9,455 votes, or one in four of the votes cast. In his “victory speech” posted on X, he noted that this was a 10,000% increase on the 95 votes he managed against Andy Burnham in the Makerfield byelection. “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” he wrote, echoing Tony Blair’s 1997 victory speech. “Literally, because it’s past 6.30 in the morning here in Clacton-on-Sea.”
In the end, Farage was not there for the count. Overnight, Reform UK said police had told him not to attend because of a “credible threat” against him, although Essex police contradicted this claim. A victory press conference was also cancelled.
Labour said the result was “no victory” for Farage, with the party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, saying the “mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a byelection against a bin”. The Liberal Democrats said Farage had come away from the byelection “looking daft”. Farage himself was atypically restrained, writing on X: “The result in Clacton speaks for itself.”
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This election reportedly cost Reform UK about £10,000. It cost the taxpayer about £250,000, after the government said it would be illegal for Reform to cover the costs, as the party had offered. It also cost Farage time and energy.
Last summer he dominated the news agenda with a series of press conferences and public appearances. This year he held his first press briefing since May on 3 August, and another a week later. Meanwhile, the Labour leader and prime minister, Andy Burnham, has – unlike his predecessor – refused to cede the battlefield, taking off on a summer tour of his own with a flurry of announcements about “everyday fixes”.
Farage has instead used his social media channels to post videos of his most loyal supporters. He may soon have to call on them again. The parliamentary standards inquiry, which will also look into allegations that Farage was financially supported by the crypto gambler and convicted fraudster George Cottrell, was paused when Farage forced the byelection, but it resumed on Friday morning.
If parliament imposes sanctions for failing to declare the gifts, Farage may be suspended from the House of Commons and potentially face a second byelection. The result and high turnout here may make the main parties wary of that. But they will take heart from polling: after Farage forced the election, support for Reform fell nationally, from just under 27% to about 24%, where it remains. The MP for Clacton’s seat looks safe, but his route to Downing Street is less certain.
