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Before Farage quit his Clacton seat in July, Parliament’s standards watchdog had been investigating him for not declaring a \u00a35m gift he received from billionaire Reform UK donor Christopher Harborne before he became an MP.<\/p>\n
Hours after the Clacton result was declared, the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards told the BBC “the investigation is not suspended anymore”.<\/p>\n
If the investigation finds Farage has breached parliamentary rules, he could face suspension from the House of Commons and a process that could trigger another by-election in Clacton, potentially forcing him to fight for his seat again.<\/p>\n
Opposition parties have been calling for another such investigation into financial support he received from a different political ally, George Cottrell, ahead of the general election in 2024.<\/p>\n
Farage framed the by-election as a “people versus the establishment” showdown, saying the “people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions”.<\/p>\n
But Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Restore Britain decided not to stand candidates against him, branding the contest a “gimmick” and a “circus”.<\/p>\n
The result was announced on the floor of Clacton Leisure Centre, rather than on a stage, to make sure there was enough space for all the candidates.<\/p>\n
With Farage absent, the other candidates lined up as the returning officer spent five minutes declaring how many votes each of them received.<\/p>\n
Apart from Farage and Count Binface, all of them lost their \u00a3500 deposits because they failed to receive more than 5% of the total valid votes cast.<\/p>\n
Count Binface’s 9,455 votes and 26.9% vote share was probably the best by-election performance by a novelty candidate.<\/p>\n
In a video on X, Count Binface – who is comedian Jonathan Harvey without the costume – said he was the “winning candidate\u2026 of the candidates who bothered to turn up”.<\/p>\n
He said the result showed “Nigel – who said he didn’t want to be humiliated – maybe has been”.<\/p>\n
“Over one in four people in this constituency would rather have Count Binface as their MP than the leader of Reform UK – and I’m just getting started,” Count Binface said.<\/p>\n
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said this was “no victory” for Farage because the “mountain of sleaze and scandal” engulfing him had only grown “while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin”.<\/p>\n
The Liberal Democrats said Farage had “come away looking daft” from the by-election and called for the standards investigation into his \u00a35m gift to “crack on”.<\/p>\n
The Conservatives said this was a “fake by-election” that had done nothing to “draw a line under the questions” surrounding the \u00a35m gift.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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