Nigel Farage, an ally of former President Donald Trump, won his race in Clacton, an English seaside town, in Thursday’s U.K. general election, becoming a member of parliament for the first time in his political career.
Farage, the leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party, won 46.2% of the vote, defeating incumbent Conservative candidate Giles Watling who held the seat since 2017.
Farage, a key architect of Brexit, had previously failed to get elected to the House of Commons seven times. This year he appears to have succeeded in capitalizing on voter resentment toward the center-right Conservatives as Reform UK won at least four seats, including his.
“I think what Reform UK has achieved … is truly extraordinary,” Farage said after his victory. “Given that we had no money … virtually nothing across the country, we are going to come second in hundreds of constituencies. To have done this in a short space of time says something fundamental is happening.”
He went on to tell reporters later he believed Friday’s results were the “beginning of the end of the Conservative Party.”
His surprise decision to stand as a candidate and take over the leadership of Reform UK in June was seen as bad news for the Conservatives, who were already facing an uphill battle in this election after 14 years in power. Farage had previously said he intended to stay out of the race to focus on the U.S. presidential election and help Trump return to the White House.
Trump welcomed Farage’s victory, calling him “a man who truly loves his Country!” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The U.K.’s political landscape shifted dramatically overnight after the center-left Labour Party won the general election in a landslide, meaning party leader Keir Starmer will soon become the country’s new prime minister.
“We did it,” Starmer said after the results were called early Friday morning. “Change begins now. And it feels good, I have to be honest. … A changed Labour Party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.”
“Across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relieved that a weight has been lifted … a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.”
Reform UK has sparked fierce criticism in recent weeks after some candidates and campaigners made racist, homophobic or antisemitic remarks, The New York Times notes.
Farage served in the European Parliament for 21 years. He left the governmental body in 2020, once Britain officially left the European Union.