UK far-right leader Farage beats Count Binface to win by-election

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, has won a by-election in Clacton, a southern seaside resort. He secured 22,239 votes, according to Le Monde English. Farage had resigned from parliament last month amid accusations that he failed to properly declare millions of pounds received from a wealthy backer. He triggered the by-election, which he described as a "people against the establishment" election.

Farage told supporters that he had won a "resounding victory" and an "overwhelming endorsement", but he would not attend the count due to a police warning about a campaign to disrupt the result. He stated that he would not be "demeaned and humiliated" by those who might try to disrupt the count.

Farage's satirical opponent, Count Binface, received 9,455 votes, exceeding expectations. ABC News AU reported that Farage would skip the UK tradition of joining all the candidates on stage when the final result is announced.

Brief written by urgent.news from Le Monde English, Free Malaysia Today, ABC News AU — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.