Clacton-on-Sea (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Hard-right British politician Nigel Farage was re-elected to his parliamentary seat Friday in a by-election shunned by the major parties – handing his main rival, joke candidate Count Binface, a larger than expected share of the vote.

Farage, who triggered Thursday’s polls by resigning from the parliamentary seat he had held since 2024 over an investigation into his finances, swept 63 percent of the ballots in the eastern English constituency of Clacton, results showed.

“It is a convincing, overwhelming win, with more votes than we got in the General Election of 2024,” Farage said in a statement.

“The voters in Clacton have stuck up two fingers to the entire political establishment.”

Count Binface – the alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey – exceeded expectations, however, taking 9,455 votes, 27 percent of the total.

Analysts had anticipated a win for Farage but underestimated the appeal of the self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” from planet Sigma IX, who campaigns wearing a rubbish bin on his head.

“The moral victory is already mine,” Binface told AFP at the counting centre early Friday.

If the other parties “choose not to stand, somebody has to stand up and be the opposition. And so it’s my humble duty to actually be His Majesty’s official opposition,” he added.

- Parliamentary probe -

The vote had been snubbed by Britain’s main political parties, including the governing Labour Party, as a stunt by the Reform UK leader to dodge scrutiny of his financial dealings.

And the inquiry was reopened on Friday, according to the House of Commons website.

The parliamentary sleaze watchdog is examining allegations that Farage and Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, failed to declare financial gifts. They deny any wrongdoing.

Farage “could easily be forced to face another by-election in a matter of weeks,” Stuart Fox, senior lecturer in politics at Exeter University, told AFP.

The parliamentary probe focuses on a five-million-pound ($6.7 million) donation to Farage from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

London police have also confirmed the start of an investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 election.

The lack of the main UK parties in the by-election gave dozens of fringe candidates including Binface a chance to seize the spotlight.

“If a majority of the voters of Clacton say they would like (Farage) to be returned as their MP, that is to be respected,” Binface added.

Farage did not attend the results, saying Essex Police had warned him that an “organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result” was planned.

But Essex Police said in a statement there were “no incidents or issues” in relation to the ballot.

Kevin Ibes, a resident in his 70s, said he was “very pleased with the result” and that Farage would be “MP here as long as he wants to be.”

He condemned the other parties for not fielding candidates, saying it was “disrespectful to Clacton”.

Turnout reached about 44 percent, down from 59 percent in the 2024 general election but not unusual for a by-election.

A record 34 candidates – most of them independents and fringe candidates, including Binface – stood in the vote, with some of the longest ballot papers in UK history seen at Clacton Leisure Centre, where the count was held.

Farage, whose party had topped national opinion polls for 18 months before falling behind recently, surprised voters with his July 7 resignation.

Farage had framed the vote as “the people of Clacton versus the Establishment”, aimed at thwarting a “stitch-up” over his finances.

But political pundits played down the vote’s wider significance in a constituency that overwhelmingly backed Brexit a decade ago.

“This by-election was ultimately of limited consequence,” Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP Friday.

“Farage successfully managed to mobilise supporters in a constituency where he is popular. But the result does not reflect Reform’s support across the country.”