The Reform chief, who failed to show up for the result of the £250,000 contest he triggered, was re-elected as Clacton's MP, picking up 22,239 votes after all the major parties boycotted the contest16:27, 14 Aug 2026Updated 16:53, 14 Aug 2026Nigel Farage was left humiliated today after his costly summer fight with a bin wrapped up with a probe into a £5million gift resuming just hours later.‌The Reform chief, who failed to show up for the result of the £250,000 contest he triggered, was re-elected as Clacton's MP, picking up 22,239 votes after all the major parties boycotted the distraction.‌Labour branded Mr Farage a national laughing stock after his main rival, the serial parody candidate Count Binface, enjoyed his best-ever election result with 9,455 votes.‌The self-styled "intergalactic space warrior" alter-ego of comedian Jon Harvey also kept his £500 deposit for the first time after securing more than 5% of the vote.Just after Mr Farage's hollow victory, it emerged that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards probe into Mr Farage's £5million gift from Thai-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne had resumed.The investigation had been paused after the Reform leader quit as an MP - triggering the by-election last month and leading political parties to accuse him of distracting from scrutiny over his financial affairs.‌It means the voters of Clacton face the prospect of a second by-election if the Commons commissioner finds Mr Farage broke MPs' rules and recommends more than a 10-day suspension from the Commons.Asked whether he welcomed Mr Farage's return to Parliament, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham told BBC 5 Live on Friday: "I will always be generous - I recognise the people of Clacton have come up with their answer."But also the parliamentary commissioner has come up with the answer as well that the investigation needs to continue. Let's focus now on that issue because it needs to be resolved to make sure we've got the highest standards in politics. That's incumbent on all of us, including Mr Farage."‌The Reform leader also faced ridicule for snubbing the count at Clacton leisure centre - alongside a record 33 candidates on a near-metre long ballot paper - in the early hours of Friday morning. The early morning drama meant he was the first winning candidate to miss an election count since imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands did so in 1981.Mr Farage claimed to have been advised not to attend the by-election count due to a "credible threat" against him by Essex Police. But it is understood the force did not tell the Reform chief - or any other candidate - not to attend the count. It led to accusations he instead wanted to avoid being photographed next to a bin. Count Binface also declared he was the "winning candidate in the room".‌Mr Farage, who also cancelled what Reform had billed as a "major" speech at 10.30am on Friday, instead appeared in the early hours of the morning in the Essex countryside several miles from the count at a "Farage fest", which boasted a ferris wheel, DJs and several fire pits.He told die-hard supporters: "I'm not scared of these people, far from it. But I'm damned if I'm going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory, a ringing endorsement of all that I've tried to fight for, and you've tried to fight for, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies, and I will not sadly be attending the count."Facing questions about the party's claim of a threat, Reform's Lee Anderson also said on Friday that Mr Farage had not attended the count because he had been told of "some planned disruption".‌Mr Anderson told the BBC: "Well he was told, and he said this in his speech earlier about five hours ago, that there was some planned disruption amongst I think it was some of the other candidates. I think that was the case."So why go there when you've got you know 35, sorry, 33 other other candidates who, and their teams… Why would you go there and listen to them being abusive when you can be with real people from the real world?"‌In a statement on Friday, an Essex Police spokesperson said: "We have a full and robust policing operation in place around the Clacton by-election, as we do with all significant elections in our county."Throughout polling day our officers were visible right across Clacton and the Tendring district. We visited all 51 polling stations, our officers were out and visible on foot, in vehicles and our drone team patrolled by air."Our aim was to ensure the people of Clacton were able to go about their daily business, that people were able to cast their vote safely and that the count took place without issue.‌"We are pleased to say all of these things happened and there were no incidents or issues throughout yesterday and into the early hours of this morning. We worked closely with Tendring District Council and their security teams throughout."Labour's chair Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio on Friday: "He forced a by-election he didn't need to have. He stood again. He spent most of the summer chasing a bin around Clacton."The Cabinet minister said Mr Farage will now come back to Parliament with "some very serious questions" to answer and accused of him of distracting from scrutiny over the £5million gift.‌She added: "You know, the scandal just keeps piling up. And now he's through that by-election, there's no hiding place."Reform supporter Tim Montgomerie, who founded the ConservativeHome website, said it was a "good result" for Mr Farage.He posted on X, Mr Farage should have been on "every TV screen" underlining his win, but added: "This recently far too dominant aggrieved tone is still with us. It's not good.‌"You don't skip your own victory count without a much better explanation. Anger from politicians can work but only if it's on behalf of others - not yourself. He's distracting from his victory. Puzzling."Referring to reports that Reform was forced to divert resources away from the Greater Manchester mayoral election last month after the ill-advised Clacton contest was triggered, Count Binface told reporters: "I mean, they lost that one didn't they? So maybe he knew that he needed to divert his resources, like one of those World War II movies I'm sure he enjoys.‌"So yes, I mean, whether he's scared of me, you need to ask Nigel that, but I have noticed just how hard Reform have been campaigning against an alien space warrior with a Ceefax fetish who only eight weeks ago scored 0.2% in Makerfield."And asked what he would consider a good result, Binface said: "Well look, a single vote, one precious vote, imagine one human like you going into that voting booth, getting the stubby pencil out, and choosing Binface instead of Farage."Just give yourself a moment to think about that. Anybody deciding they would rather vote for me to be Member of Parliament than Nigel Farage is a win. Now, you magnify that every single time there's an X for Binface and it mounts up, and it mounts up, and it mounts up."Article continues belowThe Liberal Democrats ' Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart summed up the contest, adding: "Like most people who win a fight against a bin, Farage has come away looking daft and smelling of yesterday's chip paper."