Police have contested Nigel Farage’s claims that he was told by officers not to attend the Clacton -by-election count due to a “credible threat” against him.
The Reform UK leader pre-empted the result by telling supporters he had won “fairly convincingly”, adding that he would not attend the official declaration at Clacton Leisure Centre because Essex Police had told him about an “organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result”.
A Reform UK spokesperson later said: “Essex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count tonight due to a credible threat against him.”
However, The Independent understands Essex Police did not tell Mr Farage, or any other candidate, not to attend the count.
The Reform leader won the contest – which is estimated to have cost taxpayers about £250,000 – with 22,232 votes from his supporters in the Essex constituency. But his closest rival, the satirical candidate Count Binface, managed to sweep up 27 per cent of the ballot with almost 10,000 votes in a humiliating surge in support.
Justifying Mr Farage’s decision not to attend the count, Reform Uk’s deputy leader Richard Tice said his “team” judged there was “sufficient anxiety, concern and threats”.
A spokesperson for Essex Police said: “We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.”
Police vehicles were parked outside the count venue in Clacton-on-Sea all night and officers patrolled outside the building. A private security firm managed operations inside.
Clacton by-election acting returning officer Ian Davidson said he did not know that Mr Farage would not attend the count until the Reform UK leader announced in a speech to his supporters an all-night “Farage-fest” event in Essex.
The Reform leader was also due to make what was billed as a “major speech” in Clacton at 10.30am on Friday, but the party cancelled it, saying he had “already commented on the expected result of the by-election”.
Mr Farage won with 22,239 votes, with Count Binface in second place on 9,455 votes. Mr Farage secured a 12,784 majority, 62.82 per cent of the vote.
This is up from his 8,405 vote majority, 46.2 per cent, when he won at the 2024 general election. The result was declared shortly after 6am.
Turnout was 44.37 per cent, down by just over 14 per cent. A total of 32 of the record-34 candidates lost their deposit.
Mr Davidson, for Tendring District Council, announced over the tannoy system at the Clacton by-election that he understood Mr Farage would not be attending the count.
“I just want to say we work very closely with Essex Police and have done so throughout this process and continue to do so tonight,” said Mr Davidson.
“We will continue with the count as we always do in a safe and secure manner.”
“I will not comment on security matters, but I am going to say that we are working closely with Essex Police and we have just had a further meeting and there is no issue in terms of completing the count tonight,” he said.
He said Essex Police had assigned an assistant chief constable as part of a “Gold Command” policing operation. He said he did not believe there was any threat serious enough for the count to be called off.
Confirming he would not attend, Mr Farage told supporters: “I’m not scared of these people, far from it.
“But I’m damned if I’m going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory, a ringing endorsement of all that I’ve tried to fight for, and you’ve tried to fight for, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies, and I will not sadly be attending the count.”
In his speech, Mr Farage said, hours before the result was formally declared: “Today the voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.”
The by-election was triggered by Mr Farage’s resignation over scrutiny of donations from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne. Labour and the Conservatives said his victory would not draw a line under the controversy.
Labour Chair Ms Phillipson said: “This is no victory for Nigel Farage. The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.
“This morning, Nigel Farage shouldn’t be celebrating – he should wake up and smell the coffee. He must come clean with the public and put all the facts on the table over his secret £5 million gift, his relationship with a convicted fraudster, and the other scandals his Party is drowning in.
“Farage’s distraction by-election doesn’t clear his name – it just shows he likely has so much more to hide.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage called this fake by-election in a desperate attempt to draw a line under the questions surrounding his fishy £5 million donation.
“Whatever the outcome on Friday, this stunt has not done that.”
Before quitting Westminster, Mr Farage was being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a £5m gift from Mr Harborne, which he received before taking his seat in the Commons.
Under Commons rules, new MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they 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 Mr Farage resigned his seat but resumed just three hours after his by-election win. A notice on the Commons website said the pause has now been undone.
Mr Farage could also face an investigation over support provided by George Cottrell, a long-term ally.
If he is found to have broken the rules and a suspension of more than 10 days is imposed, it could trigger a recall petition and the prospect of Mr Farage facing a second by-election.
