Zürcher Nachrichten - Farage wins UK by-election as Count Binface claims 'moral victory'

Farage, who triggered the vote by resigning the parliamentary seat he had held since 2024 over an investigation into his finances, swept 63 percent of the ballots in the English constituency of Clacton.

While votes were still being counted, Farage had declared victory.

"The verdict is in and it is a convincing and overwhelming win," he said as supporters chanted his name at an event in Essex that was broadcast on X.

His main rival, Count Binface, however, exceeded expectations by earning 9,455 votes, 27 percent of the total.

Analysts had anticipated a win for Farage but underestimated the appeal of the self-styled "intergalactic space warrior", who campaigns wearing a rubbish bin on his head, forecasting a large share of the vote approaching but not exceeding 20 percent.

The vote had been shunned by Britain's main political parties, including the governing Labour Party, as a stunt by the Reform UK leader -- once touted as a potential prime minister -- to dodge scrutiny of his dealings.

That gave dozens of fringe candidates including Binface -- the alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey -- to seize the spotlight.

"The moral victory is already mine," he told AFP at the counting centre early Friday ahead of the final tally.

Farage did not attend the count, where candidates traditionally gather for the declaration of results, saying Essex Police had warned him that an "organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result" was planned.

Acting Returning Officer Ian Davidson said election officials had worked with police to ensure the process was "completed safely and securely", adding there was "no reason not to proceed with the count process at this time".

Binface said it had been his "humble duty" to be Farage's opposition, adding he would respect the results.

"If a majority of the voters of Clacton say they would like him to be returned as their MP, that is to be respected," he said.

Turnout reached about 44 percent, down from 59 percent in the 2024 general election but not an unusual rate for a by-election.

In the coastal community, many voters appeared unenthusiastic about the vote, with even some Reform party volunteers describing the contest as a joke.

"It's a bit ridiculous," party campaigner Jane Embelton told AFP.

"It's all to make Nigel Farage look like an idiot, basically. But he doesn't look like an idiot to me or his supporters."

A record 33 fringe candidates, including Binface, stood in the vote, with some of the longest ballot papers in the country's history seen being unfolded at the Clacton Leisure Centre, where the count was held.

- 'We can't decide' -

Farage, whose party had topped national opinion polls for 18 months before falling behind recently, surprised voters with his July 7 resignation amid the probe into his finances.

The investigation by the parliamentary sleaze watchdog is examining allegations he and Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, failed to declare financial gifts. They deny any wrongdoing.

Farage has framed Thursday's vote as "the people of Clacton versus the Establishment", aimed at thwarting the "stitch-up" over his finances.

"The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions," he said in a video released before casting his vote.

One Clacton voter, Phil, predicted the vote was "not going to change anything", saying that the parliamentary probe would restart with Farage's re-election.

Political pundits have downplayed the vote's wider significance in a constituency that overwhelmingly backed Brexit a decade ago.

"It will be astonishing if Farage were not to win," political scientist John Curtice told AFP.

But some assessed Farage's election gambit had backfired as his Reform party slips down national polls.

"Farage's plan to turn this by-election into a serious political battle failed," Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle "makes Farage look rather silly".

Farage netted 46 percent of the vote in the 2024 general election to become an MP on his eighth attempt.

- Police probe -

The probe into Farage, which paused when he resigned, relates to a five million pound ($6.7 million) donation from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

UK media have reported that probe concerns undeclared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.

The controversies have coincided with the drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.

E.Schneyder--NZN