Count Binface gets almost 10,000 votes in Clacton by-election

Satirical candidate Count Binface (comedian Jon Harvey) scored his best-ever result — 9,455 votes (26.9%) — finishing second to Nigel Farage and keeping his £500 deposit.
Farage won (22,239) but did not attend the count; Reform UK cited a credible threat, while police say they did not advise candidates to stay away.
The by-election was a spectacle: main parties largely boycotted, a record 34 candidates stood, and Count Binface cheekily called himself "the winning candidate in the room."