'You drove my family into hiding!' Nigel Farage FURIOUS at Establishment in emotional message from Clacton
Nigel Farage has accused the Establishment of "driving his family into hiding" as he delivered an emotional message from Clacton ahead of tonight's by-election result.
Speaking to GB News from "Farage fest" in the Essex town, the Reform UK leader laid down the gauntlet to the "uniparty" amid fears of a second vote in the seat.
Mr Farage predicted he had won "very convincingly", saying he had beaten "Establishment candidate" Count Binface, the comedy writer named Jonathan Harvey backed by Labour, Tory and Lib Dem canvassers in Clacton.
"My voters are ordinary folk... Working people who get up early in the morning, go to work and are sick of the way this country is going and see me as a champion for their views," he said.
But with a parliamentary probe still looming if he does indeed win tonight, the Reform leader said he did not think the "uniparty" would call a second by-election if he is found to have breached the rules over a donation.
He resigned amid heightened scrutiny over the row, even admitting to GB News he did so in anger.
"If you threaten my family, threaten the safety of my daughter, drive another member of my family into hiding... Am I angry? I'm very angry," he said.
He added that it was "interesting" how attacks on his family had been dialled down after campaigning begun, and declared: "I was right to do this."
Mr Farage triggered the by-election when he resigned in July in a high-profile statement amid questions around a £5million gift he received before taking his seat in the Commons.
There, he revealed Sky News had approached his daughter - with the broadcaster claiming it had made "reasonable efforts" to approach Mr Farage.
Under Commons rules, new MPs are required to register any gift they received worth more than £300 in the last calendar year, except where the gift "could not be reasonably thought by other" to relate to their political activities.
The investigation into the gift from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne has now been paused, but is set to resume if the Reform UK leader wins.
Mr Farage has previously defended the gift as being purely personal and said the parliamentary standards investigation, led by Daniel Greenberg, was being used as a "political tool".
The Reform UK leader said the Clacton by-election would be a "people versus the establishment" contest, but none of the major parties stood.
A record 34 candidates - including three Monster Raving Loony Party candidates - challenged the Reform UK leader, causing the cost of ballot papers to be "four times as much as it was" in the general election, according to acting returning officer Ian Davidson.
Labour and Conservatives have both hit out at the contest, expected to cost around £250,000 - which Reform UK offered to pay for.
Labour chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said in a statement: "Nigel Farage spent 38 days fighting a bin in his most desperate attempt yet to deflect attention from the sleaze and scandals engulfing him and his Party.
"Farage may succeed in his run-off against a bin, but he can’t run from the truth forever. The list of unanswered questions about the £5 million gift he hid from the public, his support from a convicted fraudster, and the mountain of other scandals he and Reform are facing isn’t going away."
"If Farage has nothing to hide, he surely would have done so by now," she added.
A Tory spokesman said: "Nigel Farage called this fake by-election in a desperate attempt to draw a line under the questions surrounding his fishy £5million donation.
"Whatever the outcome on Friday, this stunt has not done that."