Nigel Farage – leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party – will be fighting for his parliamentary seat on Thursday, going head to head with parody candidate Count Binface in snap polls. The by-election was called after Farage resigned amid a probe into his finances. But the surprise move threatens to backfire as none of the major political parties has fielded a candidate.
Issued on: 13/08/2026 - 07:38
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Farage resigned as MP for Clacton-on-Sea on 8 July amid a probe by the parliamentary watchdog into his finances, freeing him up to call a by-election. Clacton, a seaside resort northeast of London that voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, is expected to re-elect Farage by a large majority. With typical showmanship, the 62-year-old politician pitched the vote as a "people versus the establishment by-election" fight to win the seat he has held since 2024. Running on an anti-immigration platform, one of his party's recent controversial policies includes deploying the Royal Navy to return small boats of migrants to France. The proposal came days after tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa from neighbouring Morocco, reigniting Europe's debate over undocumented migration. France's Interior Ministry slammed the plan, calling it "a violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law and international law".
