Nigel Farage has won a UK parliamentary seat at his eighth attempt and hailed the prospect of a “huge” General Election result for Reform UK.
The party leader was declared MP for Clacton shortly after Lee Anderson became Reform’s first MP of the night.
Earlier, businessman and former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe, won Great Yarmouth, also from the Tories.
Lee Anderson, who before this election was the party’s only MP after he defected from the Conservatives, won his seat in Ashfield.
Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe will make terrific colleagues in Parliament and put the British people first.
Reform UK has caused an earthquake tonight — and we are just getting started.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 5, 2024
Mr Farage said in a speech at the election count: “It’s not just disappointment with the Conservative party, there is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it,”
He told reporters Reform will be a “non-racist, non-sectarian” party and this election is the “beginning of the end” for the Tory party.
“This is just the first step, I set out with a goal to win millions of votes, to get a bridgehead in Parliament and that’s what we’ve done so I’m very pleased,” he added.
He said the Reform party would move forward “very rapidly”.
He said: “I’ve got to professionalise it, I’ve got to democratise it, I’ve got to get rid of a few idiots that found it too easy to get on board. They will all go, they will all go, this will be a non-racist, non-sectarian party. Absolutely and I give my word on that.”
Reform had an early boost in several constituencies where they took second place, pushing the Tories into third.
An exit poll for the BBC, Sky and ITV predicted that the party could win 13 seats – higher than predictions by most polls.
However, as results started to roll in, two of those predicted seats went to Labour.
The exit poll showed that Barnsley North had a 99% chance of being won by Robert Lomas but in reality he was around 8,000 votes short and Labour held the seat.
Reform had dropped its support for Mr Lomas as a candidate over alleged racist comments but he still appeared as a Reform candidate on the ballot.
The poll put Hartlepool as a 91% chance of a Reform win but that seat also went to Labour.
I think the picture speaks for itself ? pic.twitter.com/BWSlP1hfO7
— Lee Anderson – Reform candidate (@LeeAndersonMP_) July 5, 2024
Mr Anderson told reporters after he won Ashfield that he was “delighted but not surprised” about his win.
“This is the capital of common sense, by the way – people speak their mind in this area and they’ve had enough of the two mainstream parties.
Mr Anderson appeared to then have a row with his employer GB News as he waited to be taken live on the channel.
After somebody spoke to him down an earpiece, the newly elected MP said: “I’m not interested in Keir Starmer, I’ve been here 10 minutes waiting.”
The interview then seemed to be cancelled because his microphone was taken from him.
