Nigel Farage won the Clacton by-election held on Thursday, 13 August, standing for Reform UK. The council's declaration records it plainly: 'The winner of the by-election is Nigel Farage (Reform UK), who gained 22,239 votes.' [1]
Second place went not to one of Britain's established parties but to Count Binface, the satirical candidate who runs under his own name, on 9,455 votes. [1] That leaves Farage a majority of 12,784. At the far end of the count, the Rejoin EU candidate John Stevens finished on 492. [1]
Turnout was 44.37 percent. [1] The contest fielded 34 candidates, which the council describes as 'the highest number ever recorded for a UK parliamentary election'. [1]
The headline number belongs to Reform UK. The more telling one belongs to the parties that finished behind a man in a dustbin costume. A record ballot and a landslide sit together on the same declaration, and both are the story.
