Nigel Farage has won the Clacton seat with 22,239 votes, accounting for about 63%, compared to 9,455 votes for satirical candidate Count Binface.
It was Farage himself who triggered this election, having resigned from the same seat in early July amid a parliamentary inquiry into an undeclared £5 million donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Major British parties boycotted the election, resulting in a record 33 to 34 candidates on a nearly two-meter ballot; turnout dropped from 58.7% in 2024 to 44.4%.
Where it breaks apart
— Six different labels for the same party: Reform UK — The corpus uses terms such as 'anti-immigration', 'far right', 'right-wing populist', 'ultranationalist', and 'far right' to refer to the same party. The Swiss case is the most striking: Le Temps uses 'anti-immigration' while SRF uses 'right-wing populist', two different labels within the same country, depending on the linguistic community. No media outlet presents this choice as a deliberate decision.
— Is the issue about money, the legitimacy of the election, or the candidate in disguise? — Some media outlets focus on the story of undeclared donations and note that the parliamentary investigation, which was suspended due to the resignation, resumed just hours after the result. Others focus on the legitimacy of an election boycotted by all major parties. A third group reduces the episode to a duel with a comedian wearing a trash can on his head.
— A genuine victory or a hollow win — Media outlets that emphasize the 22,239 votes and the 63% score describe a strong comeback. Those that highlight the record abstention rate of 55%, the boycott by serious opponents, and the cost of the election to taxpayers, estimated at 200,000 pounds, describe a victory without a real opponent. A survey by Ipsos cited by the Swedish press shows that only 21% of Britons wanted this victory.
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Nigel Farage wins back the seat he gave up: a by-election he triggered himself, boycotted by all his serious opponents
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, won back the Clacton seat in Essex on Friday, August 14, 2026, with 22,239 votes, compared to 9,455 for satirical candidate Count Binface, in an election he had triggered by resigning from the same seat earlier in July amid a parliamentary inquiry into an undeclared £5 million donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
The parliamentary inquiry into the undeclared donation, which was suspended at the time of his resignation, resumed just hours after the election result was announced
The boycott
Labor, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and Green parties did not field any candidates, framing the election as a sham.
A two-meter ballot
Thirty-four candidates were listed on the ballot, a record that delayed the vote count.
The absence from the proclamation
Farage cited a threat to his safety, a claim disputed by Essex police.
Key figures
22,239
Votes secured by Nigel Farage, accounting for about 63%, compared to 9,455 for Count Binface
