Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has at last been elected as an MP, taking the seat of Clacton in Essex after seven unsuccessful attempts to get into the House of Commons.
Mr Farage received 21,225 votes, a majority of 8,405.
Exit polls indicate his party is set to win 13 seats, with Lee Anderson having already retained his Ashfield seat for Reform UK.
Mr Farage initially announced he would not run in the general election, before changing his mind because he couldn’t “let down millions of people”.
Clacton is the only constituency to have elected a UKIP (or Brexit Party) candidate at a general election – the Conservative defector Douglas Carswell in 2015.
It also had the 5th highest Leave vote in the UK (71%) at the 2016 EU referendum.
His win comes following a controversial Reform campaign marred by allegations of racism, misogyny and homophobia.
A string of scandals hit Reform over the last few weeks, including a party activist calling prime minister Rishi Sunak a “f****** p***”. Another party activist was caught describing the Pride flag as “degenerate” and LGBT+ people “nonces”.
![Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage speaking at a meeting in Boston, while on the General Election campaign trail](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/05/00/04f85ae3b2c010f892e6033b58107b22Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzIwMjIxNTc5-2.76673475.jpg)
These incidents followed a candidate stepping away from the party for historic comments praising Hitler and Mr Farage himself being accused of “appeasing Vladimir Putin” by blaming the west for the invasion of Ukraine.
This is the 8th time Mr Farage has attempted to become MP, and once again/this time he was unsuccessful/successful.
Before the general election, the Reform UK leader said his long-term goal was to run for prime minister in 2029. He said: “That is our ambition. And we believe it is achievable.”
More follows on this breaking news story….