Fringe candidate beats joke field in Farage by-election win

KUALA LUMPUR, 14 AUGUST 2026 —

Nigel Farage returned to Parliament on Friday after winning a special election in Clacton-on-Sea, taking 63% of the vote in a poll boycotted by mainstream parties.

His victory hands him the seat he resigned on July 7 during a parliamentary watchdog probe into whether he failed to declare a £5 million gift from a cryptocurrency billionaire. The investigation, suspended when he stepped down, was reopened hours after the result, raising the prospect that Farage could be forced out of Parliament again and face a fresh vote.

Farage claimed an “overwhelming win” and said the result showed voters backed him despite the investigations. The scale of his majority is hard to read, however, given the absence of credible rivals and his long-standing popularity in the Essex coastal constituency.

Count Binface, a serial candidate who stood in a trash-can helmet, finished second with about 27%. The protest vote came in a field of 34 candidates that included novelty acts such as Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party.

Farage did not attend Friday’s declaration, telling supporters he refused to “stand on a stage ... and be demeaned and humilated by nobodies.” A Reform UK spokesperson cited a “credible threat” against him, though police said there was no evidence of an organized disruption.

The by-election was triggered when Farage quit in protest over what he called an “establishment hit job” tied to the £5 million gift from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, in 2024. Farage says the money was a personal gift for security and was received before he was elected, so he did not need to declare it.

He also faces scrutiny over his ties to George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served eight months in a U.S. prison for fraud in 2014 after offering to launder money for undercover agents. Cottrell remains close to Farage, who has called him “Posh George.”

Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said Farage’s win did not absolve him of responsibility. “The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin,” she said.

Reform UK now holds eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, but the party has reshaped British politics by pushing the Conservatives and Labour to adopt tougher stances on immigration and cultural issues. With Farage under pressure and Labour’s new prime minister Andy Burnham seeking to regain support, analysts say the party’s momentum may be slowing.

Fiona Byrne, a Clacton voter, said the election was “a complete waste of money and time.” John Fairclough, another resident, said he backed Farage because “he’s a threat to the main media and government who want to just control us.”

Binface, whose real identity is comedian Jon Harvey, ran on a platform that included cutting taxes for voters and raising them for others, building one affordable home and nationalizing singer Adele. He joked that he was the “winning candidate of the candidates who bothered to turn up for the results.”

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