Farage Skips Clacton By-Election Count After Police Warning Over Embarrassment Plot
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said he will not attend the official declaration of the Clacton by-election result, citing police advice about an organised attempt to humiliate him. He had earlier told supporters he had secured a convincing victory.
Farage stays away from the count
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has confirmed that he will not be present when the result of the Clacton by-election is officially announced. He said Essex Police had warned him about a planned effort to embarrass him on stage during the declaration.
Speaking at a Reform UK event branded Farage Fest in Essex, Farage told supporters he had already secured a better result than in the 2024 general election, when he won the seat with 21,225 votes. He described the outcome as a convincing, overwhelming win. However, he said he had received notice of an organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result, and therefore would not attend the traditional count.
Electoral officer responds
Ian Davidson, the acting returning officer for the by-election, who also serves as chief executive of Tendring District Council, said it was a candidate's own decision whether to attend the count. He added that a robust policing operation was in place and stressed there was no reason to halt the counting process.
Farage was quoted as criticising what he called intolerance and a loss of fundamental democratic principles. He said he was not afraid of the people involved but was unwilling to appear on stage and be demeaned after a resounding victory.
Background to the by-election
The Clacton by-election was triggered by Farage's resignation as MP in early July, which he said was a protest against scrutiny of his finances. The vote featured a record 34 candidates, including novelty and fringe figures such as Count Binface, and required a ballot paper nearly a metre long. All major parties, as well as Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain party, chose not to field candidates.
Opinion polls suggested Farage was on course to defeat his main rival, Count Binface. But a victory is expected to lead to a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog, which opened in May after The Guardian reported that Farage had received a £5m personal gift in April 2024 from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based crypto billionaire. Farage denied the gift was an inducement to stand for office, insisting it was personal, and offered several explanations, including security and as a reward for Brexit. If Parliament imposes sanctions for failing to declare the gifts, he could be removed from the Commons and face another by-election.
