Harry Farley
Reporting from Clacton

The turnout in this by-election - the proportion of eligible voters who cast their ballot - is higher than some had expected.

The initial estimate is around 43%. We’ll get the confirmed figure later.

But if that’s roughly right, it would only be slightly lower than the Runcorn & Helsby by-election (46.2%) which Reform UK won by six votes and the Gorton & Denton vote (47.5%) which the Green’s won.

It's also higher than the recent Aberdeen South by-election (38%) which the Conservatives won.

All of those campaigns were much more fiercely fought than this one.

Reform UK believe the turnout confirms their argument.

Image source, Reuters

"The fact that more people voted today than the local elections shows how the people of Clacton were motivated by the prospect of endorsing Nigel and how the Westminster establishment judged this by election completely wrong,” a Reform source tells me.

They believe Nigel Farage could win more votes tonight than he did in the general election, with fewer overall people voting. The obvious counter is this time he isn’t facing a challenge from any of the main political parties.

But we’re already seeing the shape of the arguments we’ll hear from Reform in the days to come.

Image source, Getty Images

The Conservatives, Labour, and other Westminster parties have declined to put a candidate forward in this election.

Here's what they have had to say about the contest:

• Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer described it as a "desperate stunt", while Andy Burnham's spokesperson called the Reform leader's resignation a "gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage's funders"
• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Farage was "cracking under the pressure" because "he is finally having to face some scrutiny"
• Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for all parties to "stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage's vanity project"
• Green Party leader Zack Polanski called the Reform UK leader "a grifter", arguing Farage "knew he was heading towards a by-election anyway so has pulled the trigger early"
• Former Reform MP - now Restore leader - Rupert Lowe, said Farage is "making a mockery of our entire democratic process"

Nigel Farage’s decision to stand down as an MP and trigger a by-election in Clacton came as he was facing increasing scrutiny over his finances and a parliamentary investigation.

In early 2024, he received a £5m gift from billionaire cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne.

Farage has argued he did not need to declare the gift because he received it before he was elected as Clacton's MP in the summer of 2024.

Image source, Reuters

But Labour and other rival parties believe Farage has questions to answer over it.

The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner announced an investigation into whether he broke the Commons code of conduct, which states that new MPs "must register all their current financial interest, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election".

The rules say "purely personal gifts or benefits" from family or commercial loans would not normally have to be registered, but "if there is any doubt [about the motive of the giver or the gift's use] the benefit should be registered".

The process was suspended when he stood down and forced the by-election.

Speaking to the BBC in June, Farage said the £5m was "unconditional gift, I can spend it on cars if I want to", and went on to say the money was for his personal security.

Daniel Wittenberg
Reporting from Clacton

All the ballot boxes have now arrived at the count at Clacton Leisure Centre.

It’s clear from watching the counters that dealing with the longest ballot paper in British electoral history is a cumbersome - and slower - process.

Each ballot paper has to be unfurled, scanned for a cross next to any of 34 candidates, then the creases flattened before it is sorted into separate piles.

Simon Dedman
Reporting from Clacton

The ballot paper for this by-election is 90cm (3ft) long to fit all 34 candidates' names on.

It has cost four times more than the ballot used in the general election according to Tendring council – the local authority running the by-election.

This is a new British electoral record.

Hold it out in full and it is longer than most people’s limbs.

Image source, EPA

Daniel Wittenberg
Reporting from Clacton

Counting in the Clacton by-election is “already slower than usual”, the acting returning officer has said.

The result is not expected until after dawn.

Image source, Reuters

Aside from Reform UK, the Westminster parties have boycotted this by-election.

However, 34 candidates put their names forward, making it a record for a British parliamentary election.

Among them was Count Binface of the Count Binface Party and three candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Actor and political activist Laurence Fox, who set up the Reclaim Party in 2020, was also on the ballot paper, alongside 19 independents.

Other candidates included Adham Alkhatip from the Forward Party, William Clouston from the Social Democratic Party and John Stevens from the Rejoin EU Party.

Image source, PA Media

Daniel Wittenberg
Reporting from Clacton

Counting is under way in the Clacton by-election.

The first ballot boxes had arrived outside the count venue by 22:15 and the first box was brought inside at 22:23.

Image source, Reuters

Harry Farley
Reporting from Clacton

Welcome to Clacton Leisure Centre. This seaside town and its surrounding area have played host to moments of British political history.

In 2014 UKIP gained its first elected MP when Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives and won a by-election.

In 2016 it cemented its reputation as a home of Brexit when around 70% of people voted to leave the European Union. And in 2024 Nigel Farage finally won a parliamentary election as one of five Reform MPs at the General Election.

Today people here have been taking part in another moment of political history; a record of 34 candidates are standing in this by election.

It’s taking place because Farage chose to resign and trigger a by-election in the middle of an investigation into his finances. The independent Parliamentary standards commissioner was looking into whether Farage broke the rules by accepting a £5m gift and not declaring it.

Farage insisted he did nothing wrong and quit, saying the people of Clacton should be the judges of his actions. But the other main political parties are boycotting, saying it’s a distraction and should be held after the inquiry has concluded.

You can read a full list of the candidates challenging Farage here.

We’ll be here throughout the night to bring you the result in one of the most bizarre by-elections in recent memory.

Daniel Wittenberg
Reporting from Clacton

The provisional turnout in the Clacton by-election is “around 43%”, the acting returning officer has announced.

The final figure will be confirmed after ballot verification has been completed.

Turnout in the constituency at the 2024 general election was 58.7%.

Harry Farley
Reporting from Clacton

Image source, PA Media

The result here isn’t in doubt.

No one I’ve spoken to in recent days – whether in Clacton or in Westminster – believes anyone other than Nigel Farage will win tonight.

One thing that does matter is the size of victory. Despite not facing any challenge from the main political parties, Reform UK have spent a lot of time and around £150,000 campaigning here in recent weeks.

From sources I’ve been speaking to in the party, they argue if Reform UK wins at least 70% of the vote tonight, that will secure the seat for Farage even if he has to come back for another by-election if Parliament’s independent standards commissioner finds he seriously broke the rules over his £5m gift.

Farage wants to argue that a comfortable victory will send a message to the establishment. But the establishment in this by-election are represented by an assortment of minor parties and satirical candidates, including three from the Monster Raving Loony Party and Count Binface, a comedian in a spacesuit with a bin on his head.

The danger for Farage is not so much the result tonight. But whether it makes him look like an unserious politician, not the prime minister in waiting he insists he is.

Polls have closed in the Clacton by-election.

The ballot boxes will now be counted and we are expecting the winner of the contest to be announced early on Friday morning.

As always, our reporters are ready to give you the latest updates and analysis throughout the night so stay with us.

Image source, Reuters

The parliamentary constituency of Clacton covers a large part of north-east Essex called Tendring, and includes the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea.

In 2024, Clacton elected Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as its MP with 46% of the vote - the first election since the constituency's boundaries were redrawn.

The previous general election in 2019 saw the Conservative Party achieve a 72% vote share.

Clacton was the first place to elect a UK Independence Party (UKIP) MP, when it re-elected Douglas Carswell in a 2014 by-election following his defection from the Tories.

It then became an epicentre during the EU referendum campaign and was a bastion of the Leave vote.

During the Brexit referendum in 2016, the Tendring area of Essex recorded one of the highest leave votes in England - at almost 70%.

Its population skews slightly older than England generally. According to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - which comes from 2024 - 47.3% of the constituency are aged 55 or older, compared with 31.5% of people in the country as a whole.

Simon Dedman
Reporting from Clacton

Ever since the last by-election in 2014 - when the then Conservative MP Douglas Carswell resigned and joined Nigel Farage’s then political party of UKIP - Clacton has been one of the corners of the country used to the political cameras' gaze.

A year later, in 2015, the seat was the only constituency UKIP won in a general election.

It then became a backdrop of Brexit with the leave campaigns coming to the town and posing with the pier in photo ops.

The seat returned to the Conservative fold in the general elections of 2017 and 2019 with Giles Watling elected comfortably as the MP. In 2024, Nigel Farage chose to stand in Clacton where his old political party, UKIP had succeeded.

Farage also won the largest Reform UK majority in the last general election.

Now Clacton goes to the polls again, in 2026, for the sixth parliamentary vote time in 12 years.

Image source, Reuters

Polls in the Clacton by-election - triggered by Nigel Farage’s resignation from Parliament - will close at 22:00 BST.

The Reform UK leader, who quit as an MP last month, is standing for re-election in the Essex constituency.

While Westminster’s other major parties have boycotted the poll, 34 candidates are in the running - a record for a British parliamentary election.

The count will begin when polling stations close shortly.

We’ll bring you updates, analysis and reaction throughout the evening.

Image source, Reuters