“Britain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election,” he said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Farage is widely expected to retain the eastern Essex seat, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, and political analysts have downplayed the vote’s wider significance.
“It seems unlikely that the byelection will be consequential for British politics,” University of Southampton political science professor Will Jennings told AFP.
“Victory won’t mean that questions about Farage or Reform’s finances will go away, so it seems most likely it will be a wasted summer for everyone,” he added.
“When Farage returns to Parliament afterwards we will be back where we started.”
‘Rather silly’
Polls will close at 10pm, with counting beginning immediately and a result expected by around 7am on Friday.
Turnout – nearly 59% in the 2024 general election – could be significantly down given the lack of traditional candidates from ruling centre-left Labour and the centre-right Conservatives.
Farage netted 46% of the vote two years ago to become an MP on his eighth attempt, securing a majority of 8405. But comparisons may be complicated by the boycotts.
Most of the candidates – the highest number of any parliamentary election – are standing as independents, and have led to a ballot paper which is nearly a metre long.
Joke candidate Count Binface, who dresses with a grey dustbin over his head wearing a cape and silver armour, has captured global media attention and could snatch a fifth of the votes, according to a Survation poll.
The self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” is part of a long British tradition of satirical election contenders, which appears to have reached its zenith in Clacton, where the Official Monster Raving Loony Party will also field three candidates.
“Farage’s plan to turn this byelection into a serious political battle failed,” Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle “makes Farage look rather silly”.
An activist holds a placard urging people to vote for the satirical candidate Count Binface. Photo / Getty Images
‘Misjudgment’
Journalist Michael Crick, who wrote a 2022 biography of the Reform leader, agrees.
“This has been a complete misjudgment by Farage,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “He’s hoping to become Prime Minister, and Clacton is in no way representative of the country as a whole.”
Farage shocked Westminster and beyond when he announced his resignation as Clacton MP – and intention to re-stand for the role – on July 7 following intense scrutiny of his and Reform’s finances.
The parliamentary sleaze watchdog is investigating Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, amid allegations they failed to declare financial gifts – including in Farage’s case a £5 million ($11.56m) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
They deny any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, London police have confirmed they started an investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 general election.
British media have reported it relates to non-declared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.
The controversies have coincided with a drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.
Luke Tryl, who heads the More in Common research nonprofit, told AFP that Farage’s core supporters “seem largely undeterred” but that newer Reform converts “might now be wavering”.
– AFP