Nigel Farage is returning to Parliament after comfortably defeating a satirical candidate dressed as a trash can, in an election victory that allowed an ethics probe to resume into the Reform UK leader’s personal finances.

Farage got 62.8% of the vote in the constituency centered on the English resort town of Clacton-on-Sea to retain his seat in the House of Commons, beating his main competitor, Count Binface. The perennial joke candidate, who poses as an intergalactic space warrior, received a personal-best 26.7%, leading 33 challengers. It was the largest-ever field in a British by-election, as fringe figures flocked to take part in the spectacle.

The United Kingdom’s major parties, including the governing Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives, boycotted the special election, which they derided as a publicity stunt. Farage forced the vote with his surprise decision to resign last month, stalling a parliamentary probe into the £5 million ($6.8 million) he received from Thailand-based crypto investor, Christopher Harborne that resumed as soon as he won reelection Friday morning.

The results represent an improvement in both share and number of votes on Farage’s result in 2024, when he received about 46% of ballots cast. It was enough of a margin for the Reform leader to claim he had secured the “big, big, thumping vote” he had said he wanted. About 44% of eligible voters turned out, which is in line with the norm for such midcycle elections.

Farage nonetheless made the unusual decision to skip the count, citing risks to his personal safety, as well as suggesting he didn’t want to share a platform with the other candidates. He also canceled a victory speech planned for later Friday in Clacton.

“I’m not scared of these people, far from it,” Farage told supporters ahead of the result. “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.”

While Reform indicated that the Essex Police has advised him not to attend, media including the Press Association reported that the local law enforcement agency gave no such guidance. The returning officer also said he believed the local Tendring Council could ensure the safety of all candidates and that he wasn’t aware Farage wouldn’t be present until his announcement.

Binface, who is played by the comedian Jonathan Harvey, had less than two months ago got just 95 votes in a similar by-election against soon-to-be Prime Minister Andy Burnham. He told reporters after the count that his 9,455 votes Thursday showed he was “1,000 times more popular” against Farage.

“Does that have anything to do with why he isn’t here tonight?” Binface said.

While few doubted that Farage would win in a constituency that the Reform leader carried with more than 46% of the vote two years ago, the result will be scrutinized for indications about his prospects for becoming prime minister in the next general election. The right-wing populist party has slipped in public opinion polls in recent weeks, in some cases falling behind a Labour Party reinvigorated by Burnham’s installation as premier.

Farage wanted a fresh mandate from the “people vs. the establishment” election to delegitimize questions over the Harborne gift, which Reform argues was given to pay for personal security. Still, inquiries into whether the money constituted a political donation that needed to be publicly disclosed had resumed by Friday morning, according to an update on the Parliament website.

“This is no victory for Nigel Farage,” Labour Party Chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said in a statement. “The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.”

If the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards decides Farage violated the rules, he could be subject to a recall petition and be made to defend his seat again, this time against more serious opposition than just Count Binface.

“If I get the result I want, if Standards decide that they want to do it again, well, I think they’d look rather silly,” Farage had told the Sun newspaper on Tuesday.

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(With assistance from Moira Warburton and Philip Glamann.)

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