Farage puts seat on the line over ‘establishment hit job’ — voters send him right back

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage gambled his seat on the voters of Clacton siding with him over Britain's political establishment — and won.

Farage regained his seat in Parliament Friday after triggering a highly unusual by-election that he said would allow voters to judge him amid allegations surrounding his finances.

His closest challenger was not Labour or the Conservatives, but Count Binface, a satirical candidate played by comedian Jon Harvey who campaigns dressed as a trash can.

Farage captured 22,239 votes, while Count Binface won 9,455, according to the official result published by Tendring District Council.

Turnout was 44.37%.

Britain's major political parties declined to field candidates in the contest, which they dismissed as a self-serving stunt.

MEET 'COUNT BINFACE,' THE TRASH CAN-CLAD COMEDIAN CHALLENGING NIGEL FARAGE "I called this by-election because I wanted the people of Clacton and the voters of this constituency to be my judge.

Not the mainstream media in Britain…and the political establishment who paint us out to be criminals and bad people every day," Farage told supporters before the final result was announced.

"So I asked the voters of Clacton to be my jury." Farage resigned from Parliament last month, forcing the vote as he sought a renewed mandate amid a parliamentary investigation into whether he should have declared a £5 million, or roughly $6.75 million, gift from a billionaire cryptocurrency investor.

Farage has acknowledged receiving the money and not declaring it, but maintains he did nothing wrong.

The gamble succeeded in returning Farage to Westminster — but it did not make the investigation disappear.

He had previously called the reporting around his finances an "establishment hit job" and said he had followed the rules.

Shortly after the election result was declared, the parliamentary standards investigation, which had been suspended when Farage resigned his seat, was once again listed as active, Reuters reported.

Parliament's current investigations page lists the Farage case as having opened May 13 under Rule 5, "Failure to register an interest." Parliament notes that the opening of an investigation does not itself mean the rules have been breached.