Polls close in Clacton byelection as Farage faces record 34 candidates and satirical rival Count Binface

The byelection

Polls closed at 10pm on August 13 in Clacton, Essex, where Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is seeking to retain the parliamentary seat he resigned last month in protest at media and parliamentary scrutiny of donations from his backers. Farage described the byelection as a chance to "stick two fingers up to the establishment". Polling stations had been open since 7am. None of the UK's main political parties fielded a candidate, leaving Farage's principal opponent as Count Binface, a satirical candidate and self-styled "intergalactic space warrior". A record 34 candidates are standing, including former GB News presenter Laurence Fox, three from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, and an array of independents. Roughly 78,000 people are eligible to vote, and the result is expected on Friday morning. The contest is estimated to have cost taxpayers about £250,000 (€292,000). The ballot paper is around 3ft long, and photographers at the count were advised they would need a wide-angle lens to fit all candidates into a single shot.

Investigations resume on return

Before quitting Westminster, Farage was being investigated by the UK's parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a £5 million (€5.85 million) gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, received before Farage took his seat in the House of Commons. Under Commons rules, new MPs must register any gifts worth more than £300 (€350) received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift "could not be reasonably thought by others" to relate to their political activities. That investigation was paused when Farage resigned but will resume if he wins the byelection, as bookmakers have made him the firm favourite. It has been suggested that Farage himself did not realise the byelection would not wipe clean the slate of parliamentary investigations into his behaviour. Farage could also face a separate investigation over support provided by George Cottrell, a long-term ally who reportedly recruited and paid campaign staff.

Polling slide

The byelection comes amid a downward trend in Reform's opinion poll numbers. In YouGov's national poll of voting intentions in May, Reform stood at 28 per cent while Labour, then under Keir Starmer, languished at 16 per cent. Reform gained 1,000 local seats in May's local elections and had seemed to be riding high. Since then, Starmer was replaced as party leader and prime minister by Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham's Labour now stands at 24 per cent in YouGov's poll, while Reform has slipped to 22 per cent after 15 months in the lead. The Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch are in third at 21 per cent. Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain party is taking roughly one in ten of Reform's voters, according to the New Statesman.

Campaign strategy

POLITICO analysis of Reform UK's digital campaign messages shows Farage ran a twin-track strategy: painting himself as a champion for local residents on prosaic matters such as shabby beachfront stairs, and as an insurgent leader harried by the "establishment" machine. Farage and his party spent more than £10,000 pushing those messages via ads on Meta's platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The New Statesman noted that the strategy does not appear to have worked, with the perception for the first time in more than a year that the Labour government is making more of the political weather than Reform.

I've decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.

Farage, dressed in garish pink chinos and a white-striped blazer, voted in the seaside constituency on Thursday. The next UK general election is expected by 2029.