Nigel Farage has won the Clacton by-election, the vote he has long described as a “people vs Establishment” contest.
Shortly after 6am, Mr Farage was confirmed to have returned to the House of Commons.
He secured 22,239 votes while his closest rival, a satirical candidate named Count Binface, received 9,455.
The total turnout was 35,111, a decreased vote share of 14.39 per cent.
The other main Westminster parties boycotted the by-election entirely, though Mr Farage could face them in a potential second vote at a later date.
Mr Farage resigned as an MP to trigger the contest at the start of July amid a probe by the parliamentary standards commissioner over a £5million gift he received before becoming an MP.
That probe was paused when he quit, and will now resume. If he receives a severe disciplinary sanction, he will be forced to face voters once again.
The Reform UK leader told GB News in the early hours he had won “very convincingly” over “Establishment candidate” Count Binface.
On social media later on, he said the result in Clacton “speaks for itself”.
But the night was marred by fears of an “organised campaign to degrade and disrupt” the count.
Mr Farage hailed supporters at a Reform-organised “Farage fest” for coming out in force, saying even before the count he had secured more votes than in 2024.
Those pre-count claims turned out to be correct – he beat his 2024 total of 21,225 by 1,014 votes, with a lower turnout than the General Election.
Meanwhile, Count Binface, whose real name is Jon Harvey, secured enough votes to retain his deposit – the only other candidate other than Mr Farage to do so.
Mr Harvey has stood against party leaders such as Andy Burnham, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in the past.
But he did not stand next to Mr Farage after Reform UK claimed Essex Police said a “credible threat” had forced him away from the declaration.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice told GB News the party’s leader “would have loved” to have been at the count, but “security is paramount”.
Ian Davidson, the acting returning officer, said he was not aware Mr Farage would not be attending the count until he announced it in his speech, and insisted the election process was completed “safely and securely”.
GB News understands that Essex Police, however, did not tell any candidate not to attend the declaration.
Major parties were quick to give their takes on the by-election they did not stand in.
Labour was quick to declare the by-election was “no victory for Nigel Farage” despite not standing a candidate in it.
Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson echoed her remarks from after polls closed last night, saying the victory “shows he likely has so much more to hide”.
The Liberal Democrats said Nigel Farage had come away from the Clacton by-election “looking daft”.
Kemi Badenoch, in a letter circulated in Clacton this week, said the Conservatives would stand a candidate in a “genuine contest”.
But Reform figures shut down claims there would be a second by-election.
Before the count, a Reform UK source said: “If Nigel Farage wins by more votes tonight than he did in 2024 then his decision to call this by-election against the establishment will be vindicated.”
And Mr Farage said: “Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.”