Nigel Farage secures parliamentary seat in by-election

With a victory in a by-election he initiated, the British right-wing populist Nigel Farage has once again secured a seat in Parliament. The leader of the Reform UK party won the vote in the Clacton constituency in the English county of Essex with 22,239 votes. The former Brexit campaigner's biggest competitor was fun candidate Count Binface ("Count Garbage Can Face"). He received 9,455 votes. The country's major parties viewed the maneuver as a political farce and did not put forward any opposing candidates.

Farage stayed away from the announcement. Even before his victory was announced, Farage declared himself the clear winner. However, he stayed away from the official event where the result was announced. According to him, the local police informed him about a planned campaign against him, and a Reform spokesman even spoke of a "credible threat," according to the BBC.

The by-election was triggered by Farage himself, who had given up his parliamentary seat. He had previously hit the headlines because of, among other things, a controversial monetary gift. Five million pounds as a gift. As the Guardian recently revealed, shortly before his election as an MP in 2024, Farage received a cash gift of five million pounds (the equivalent of around 5.9 million euros), which he did not declare as a donation. According to him, it was a personal gift with no strings attached. The matter was investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. However, the investigation was suspended following Farage's departure. The voters should decide on his actions, he said a few weeks ago when he resigned.

Investigation is likely to continue. According to British media reports, the investigation against Farage will most likely be reopened when he enters the House of Commons. If the reform politician is found to have committed an offense, in the worst case scenario he could be expelled from the House of Commons - and the next by-election with an uncertain outcome. So he could only bring an investigation to a standstill for a short time. However, with the election victory he can now support his narrative that he has the will of the voters in Clacton behind him.