Nigel Farage's re-election has been mocked as a waste of time but his team are feeling chipper

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GB News's Political Editor Christopher Hope pulls back the curtains of a defining chapter in Nigel Farage's Westminster career

After a 38-day break, Nigel Farage is back in Parliament as the MP for Clacton. The conventional view in Westminster is that the whole by-election has been an embarrassment for the Reform UK leader.

And it is true that - viewed from SW1 as Farage's battle with a bin, as then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves described it - the by-election campaign looked like a colossal waste of time after the main parties declined not to stand against him.

But viewed from Clacton, Mr Farage's fight to be returned as the local MP against Count Binface and 32 other candidates looks different and it is possible to see why his team are chipper this morning.

After all, for the past 38 days, Farage and his team have been able to gather data about where their supporters live in Clacton as the party's volunteers knocked on doors in the Essex constituency.

This is vital information the party did not have time to gather in the six weeks between announcing his intention to stand in the July 2024 general election and polling day.

For what it is worth, the Tories dispute this. One senior adviser told me: "What isn't massively overlooked by Nigel Farage's critics is that, in spending the last six weeks getting that data, the only recognisable spokesman for Reform has been essentially missing in action.

“Ofcom rules on by-election coverage have meant Farage has barely been featured on TV or radio, press conferences have instead been helmed by the deeply disliked Zia Yusuf, and Reform have steadily slipped in the polls."

Senior Reform sources were also pointing out that they managed to increase the number of votes in the Clacton by-election for Nigel Farage by 1,000 compared with the 2024 general election.

They see this as impressive as there was “no jeopardy” once the main parties boycotted the by-election, which would normally make it harder to get the vote out. One tells me: “If we had got fewer votes you would have crucified us. But we didn’t and you can’t.”

No wonder Mr Farage told me on GB News: “This is an overwhelming endorsement of me. I have had enough of being judged by mainstream media being called a criminal."

Nevertheless, it seems very possible that we may have a re-run of the Clacton by-election before long.

This morning, Parliament Standards Commissioner's office has reopened its investigation into Mr Farage's finances - thought to be linked to the £5million gift from a crypto-billionaire - three hours after he was elected.

And hours earlier at Reform's FarageFest event, a 30-minute drive from the county, Mr Farage suggested that the commissioner may find him guilty of wrongdoing, telling me: "And, you know, maybe I haven't filled in a piece of paper. I'm confident I'm right. We'll see where we go.”

If the Standards Commissioner decides he has done wrong, and the Standards Committee suggests a ban from the Commons of over 10 days, then the people of Clacton will be asked if they want another by-election.

The maths suggests they might. Last night 9,455 people voted for Count Binface; there are just 7,979 signatures - 10 per cent of the electorate - needed for a recall by-election.

So - the August 2026 Clacton by-election is over; and it seems very possible we will back here again, potentially before Christmas, with the mainstream parties getting involved. Except the next time, Farage and Reform UK will be much more prepared for the fight.