Voters in eastern England are casting their ballots this Thursday for a by-election triggered triggered by Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, amid a boycott by mainstream parties.
The traditional parties have shunned the contest for the Clacton parliamentary seat — represented by Farage since July 2024 — denouncing his move to resign and launching a new vote as a stunt.
As such, Farage’s main rival is a joke candidate called Count Binface alongside 33 other fringe candidates.
Polling stations have opened at 7:00 am and will close by 10:00 pm, with counting beginning immediately and a result expected by around 7:00 am Friday.
Turnout — nearly 59 percent in the 2024 general election — could be significantly down given the lack of traditional candidates from ruling centre-left Labour and the centre-right Conservatives.
Defiant Farage widely expected to win
Farage — whose anti-immigration Reform UK won local elections in May and topped national polls for 18 months from early last year — has remained defiant.
The Brexit backer has framed the by-election as “the people of Clacton versus the Establishment”, branding newspaper probes and official investigations into his finances and questionable donations to his anti-immigration party as a “stitch-up”.
“Britain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election,” he said in a statement late Wednesday.
Farage is widely expected to retain the eastern Essex seat, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, and political analysts have downplayed the vote’s wider significance.
Two years ago, he netted 46 percent of the vote to become an MP on his eighth attempt, securing a majority of 8,405. But comparisons may be complicated by the boycotts.
“It seems unlikely that the by-election will be consequential for British politics,” says University of Southampton political science professor Will Jennings.
“Victory won’t mean that questions about Farage or Reform’s finances will go away, so it seems most likely it will be a wasted summer for everyone,” he added.
“When Farage returns to parliament afterwards, we will be back where we started.”
His main rival, Binface, who dresses with a grey dustbin over his head wearing a cape and silver armour, has captured global media attention and could snatch a fifth of the votes, according to a Survation poll.
Snap poll shows long British tradition of satirical contenders
The self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” is part of a long British tradition of satirical election contenders, which appears to have reached its zenith in Clacton, where the Official Monster Raving Loony Party will also field three candidates.
“Farage’s plan to turn this by-election into a serious political battle failed,” Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle “makes Farage look rather silly”.
Most of the candidates — the highest number of any parliamentary election — are standing as independents and have led to a ballot paper which is nearly a metre long.
Farage shocked Westminster and beyond when he announced his resignation as Clacton MP — and intention to re-stand for the role — on July 7 following intense scrutiny of his and Reform’s finances.
The parliamentary sleaze watchdog is investigating Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, amid allegations they failed to declare financial gifts — including in Farage’s case a £5 million ($6.7 million) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
They deny any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, London police have confirmed starting an investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 general election.
UK media have reported it relates to non-declared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.
The controversies have coincided with a drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.