Actually a bad result for Binface: you'd have expected the whole opposition to converge on him (they would have had nothing to lose), but many non-reform didn't vote at all, giving Farage the absolute majority.

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justin66 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You're totally right, at this moment he must be seriously reconsidering his career as a politician.

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Someone1234 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In the previous (2024) Clacton election, Conservative + Reform got a combined 74.1% of the vote, with Labour + Liberal Democrats + Greens getting a combined 24.8%.

Considering Count Binface got 26.93% (i.e. +2.13% Vs. the previous combined), the opposition did in fact converge on him. It just so happen that in Clacton the opposition is tiny, it is a very right wing area - which is why Farage picked it.

So I'd not consider +2.13% over the previous combined opposition a bad result, quite the opposite. Unless you believe previous Conservative voters would pick Binface over Farage, which to me seems highly unlikely.

All numbers from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Clacton_by-election#Resul...

	▲	nmeofthestate 11 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Some Conservative activists were campaigning for the joke candidate in the constituency. Although none of the parties officially endorsed him obviously, they have all been gushing about him on social media. I'm not sure the traditional parties standing aside in favour of a joke candidate, even if none of them stood a chance in this constituency individually, paid off. It probably just pissed off Farage voters hence his increased vote count with a reduced turnout. The whole thing was cringeworthy, insulting to the voters, and just played into Farage's hands.

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TheqO 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>but many non-reform didn't vote at all

Turnout percentage wasn't much different to 2024 elections. So if you say that many non-reform didn't vote, then it means new people of a similar volume did vote.

Which I think is unlikely, I suspect the other parties strategically wanted to keep Farage in (see my standalone comment )

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12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

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louthy 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> you'd have expected the whole opposition to converge on him

This is such a ridiculous take. In his last by-election result he got 95 votes, which up until last night's result was this highest he'd ever achieved. So getting nearly 10,000 votes is ridiculously good for a 'novelty' candidate. Your expectations of how every single voter who was for the other parties is instantly not for Nigel Farage doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The Conservative bloc, for example, wouldn't necessarily have skin in this game, whereas liberal and left leaning voters would.

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wolfi1 12 hours ago | parent [-]

if I remember correctly in one election as he was still Lord Buckethead he got more votes

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dofm 11 hours ago | parent [-]

More votes in an absolute sense but nowhere near as large as a proportion — he got 24000 votes when he stood for London Mayor but that is a tiny, tiny proportion of the vote — the two leading candidates between them got two million.

So he has never, until now, kept his deposit. This win was large and it is politically significant.

	▲	wolfi1 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I meant more than those 95

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dofm 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This is an absurd take.