According to the vote count results of the by-election held in the south of England on Friday, August 14th, Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform Party, has emerged victorious, reclaiming the parliamentary seat he vacated over a month ago.
In this by-election, Farage’s main competitor was comedian Jonathan David Harvey, who transformed into “Count Binface”, wearing a trash can on his head, creating one of the most ludicrous rivals in British politics.
The highly anticipated by-election saw a turnout of 44%, a slight decrease compared to the 59% in the 2024 general election, but not uncommon for a by-election. Farage secured 62.8% of the votes in this by-election, while “Count Binface” received 26.7% of the votes.
On July 7th, Farage announced his resignation from the House of Commons seat in the Clacton constituency due to financial controversies, before running in the by-election in the same constituency.
The latest by-election results did not come as a surprise, as pre-election polls indicated Farage would have a significant lead over his rival “Count Binface.” A Survation poll last month predicted Farage would win 73% of the votes, with “Count Binface” capturing 20% of the votes.
Farage attempted to characterize this by-election as a referendum on his battle against the “establishment,” while mainstream political parties in the UK expressed their intention to boycott this by-election.
“This is a convincing overwhelming victory, with even more votes than in the 2024 general election,” Farage said in a statement.
“The voters of Clacton have given the entire political establishment a two-finger salute,” he added.
“Count Binface,” earlier on Friday at the counting center, told Agence France-Presse that challenging Farage was his responsibility.
“I have won a moral victory,” he said. “If other parties choose not to run, someone must step up to be the opposition.”