Clacton by-election polls close and counts begin

Polling booths have now closed and the counting of votes is under way in the Clacton by-election.

Voting stopped at 22:00 BST in the record-breaking contest, challenged by 34 candidates with an almost metre-long (3.2ft) ballot paper.

Reform UK MP Nigel Farage triggered the by-election when he resigned from the Essex seat in July.

The result is expected to be announced at Clacton Leisure Centre between 05:00 and 07:00.

• Follow our live by-election coverage from Clacton

Ballot boxes from 51 voting stations were due to arrive 10 minutes after the polls closed, while the final ones should be at the venue by 23:30.

Some 79,785 people were registered to vote in the contest. Of those, 10,716 received a postal vote before Thursday.

Farage won the Clacton seat with a 8,405-vote majority in the 2024 general election.

But he resigned during a row over his financial support, after the Sunday Times reported he had not declared benefits, including staff and security, from his long-term ally George Cottrell.

The Reform leader has also faced questions about a £5m gift from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne in early 2024 which he did not register.

Farage has denied any wrongdoing and said the £5m was for his personal security.

He has called the by-election a "people versus the establishment" contest and put his future in the hands of Clacton voters.

An investigation into Farage by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, launched before he resigned, will resume if he is re-elected.

The by-election has been shunned by the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Restore Britain, all of which have not fielded candidates.

However, the contest has already broken several records:

• The most candidates in one Westminster election
• The most independent candidates (20) to stand in a single election
• The longest ballot paper in British electoral history

Tendring District Council said it could not find a stage big enough for all 34 candidates at the count.

Instead, they will be asked to line up on the floor of the sports hall in alphabetical order as the results are declared.

The winner will be sworn in at the House of Commons once Parliament returns from the summer break in September.

A full list of all the candidates who stood can be found here.

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