Clacton byelection polls open with Farage up against slew of fringe candidates

Polls have opened in Clacton, with thousands of residents in the Essex seat to vote in a ballot featuring Nigel Farage and a range of novelty and fringe candidates led by Count Binface.

The Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced a byelection in an attempt to address complaints over a deepening scandal about gifts he received.

He is expected to face a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog, which was opened in May after the Guardian revealed he had received a £5m personal gift from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, in April 2024.

Farage has denied the gift amounted to an inducement to run for office, insisting it was personal in nature. He has given a series of explanations for the gift, including that it was for his security and a reward for Brexit.

The inquiry will look into allegations Farage was financially supported by the crypto gambler and convicted fraudster George Cottrell, a close friend, after the Sunday Times reported that Cottrell’s support included security and social media staff who worked on Farage’s online content in the year before he was elected.

Reform UK claimed that was a “baseless and contrived story” and that no parliamentary rules had been broken.

The inquiry, which was suspended on 8 July after Farage’s decision to force a byelection, could restart as soon as Friday if he is re-elected.

If parliament imposes sanctions for failing to declare the gifts, he may be removed from the House of Commons and face a second byelection.

All of the main parties have boycotted the byelection, announcing they would not stand candidates for a “media circus” and a “vanity project”. Instead, Count Binface, the self-declared “entirely independent space warrior” created by the comedian Jon Harvey, stepped into the void.

A record number of candidates are seeking election, presenting voters with the longest ballot paper in British electoral history.

Among the 34 candidates on the ballot paper are independents, the actor and rightwing political activist Laurence Fox and three figures from the Monster Raving Loony party: Howling Laud Hope, Baron Von Thunderclap and Nick the Incredible Flying Brick.

As well as the town of Clacton-on-Sea, the constituency comprises rural villages, farmland and several seaside towns and villages including Frinton, Walton-on-the-Naze and Jaywick, which last year was named the most deprived neighbourhood in England for the fourth consecutive time since 2010.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the population of Clacton is older than the average in England. A third of working-age people are economically inactive, compared with fewer than one in five in the east of England. Seventy per cent of Clacton residents who voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum favoured leave.

After standing in multiple British elections since 1994, Farage was elected to the Commons as the member for Clacton in 2024. He won the seat with a majority of 8,400, taking 46.2% of the vote. The Conservatives came second and Labour third.

The previous record for the largest number of candidates in a constituency election was held by the Haltemprice and Howden byelection in East Yorkshire in July 2008, which featured 26 candidates. It took place after David Davis resigned his seat and stood again as a protest over the issue of civil liberties.

The result may be seen as a benchmark to measure Farage’s relative success in this byelection. Davis won 72% of the vote in the election – which Labour and the Lib Dems did not contest – up from 47.5% at the 2005 general election, with a majority of 15,355.

Farage’s critics argue that his standing as a contender to be the next prime minister has taken a serious hit as a result of the byelection, with much of the Reform leader’s time and energy spent in the Essex constituency.

Last summer Farage was able to dominate the news agenda while the leaders of other main parties took summer holidays, helming seven press conferences in six weeks.

This year he held his first press briefing on 3 August, his first national press conference since May. He has not appeared keen to debate with Binface or the other 32 candidates.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.