The 2026 Clacton By-Election

The story so far

As of August 13, 2026

This is a high-profile by-election in Clacton, testing whether Nigel Farage can reclaim the Essex seat he vacated and how much pull Reform UK has without the usual big-party contest. The race is unusually crowded, with a record 34 candidates and no participation from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, or the Greens, turning the ballot into both a referendum on Farage and a magnet for protest and novelty campaigns.

The contest was triggered when Farage resigned as MP amid heightened scrutiny of his finances and a parliamentary investigation, then vowed to stand again and cast the fight as people versus the establishment. The writ was moved in the Commons by Reform MP Lee Anderson, the field swelled with independents and satirical candidates including Count Binface, and the vote was set for 13 August with the major parties and Restore Britain off the ballot.

Polls opened at 7 am and closed at 10 pm on Thursday, counting began immediately, and a result is expected early Friday. What is being measured now is whether Farage and Reform UK can turn national attention into votes in a fragmented contest shaped by the absence of the usual party cues.

The facts that explain the rest are the composition of the ballot and the origin of the race in a resignation amid an investigation. With no major parties competing, the telling numbers will be Farage’s vote share and turnout rather than the identity of a runner-up. Whatever the margin, the parliamentary scrutiny of his finances continues on a separate track, while the record-length ballot makes this result hard to map onto a standard general-election contest.