Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform Britain party, won his first seat in the British Parliament after his supporters defected from Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party in a vote in the English seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea on Friday.
Farage, whose anti-immigration, pro-Brexit campaign has made him one of Britain’s most famous and controversial politicians, handily defeated the Conservative candidate who had previously held the seat, Giles Watling.
After initially denying he would run, his sudden announcement a month ago to stand in the election has boosted support for Reform UK across the UK.
This dashed Mr Sunak’s hopes of closing the gap with the centre-left Labour Party, which was on course for a landslide victory across the country.
“There is a huge vacuum on the right of centre in British politics and my job is to fill it and that’s exactly what I will do,” Farage said after the results were announced.
“My plan is to build a large national movement over the next few years, hopefully large enough to formally contest the 2029 general election.”
After seven failed attempts to win a seat, Friday’s victory means Farage, 60, will finally join a political establishment he has criticised for decades and test his ability to deliver on promises to voters.
Exit polls had predicted Reform UK would win 13 seats – a tiny proportion of the 650 available, but Mr Farage hopes they will give him the platform to overtake the Conservatives and become the main centre-right opposition to Labour.
“Trust me guys, this is just the first step of something that will amaze all of you,” he said.
