Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage is widely expected to win the by-election. (AP: Richard Pelham)
Voting has closed in a by-election in Britain's Clacton constituency after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigned amid scrutiny of a $9 million donation from a crypto billionaire.
Mr Farage is widely expected to win the seat, but his main opponent is a comedian wearing a bin on his head named Count Binface.
The wait for a result is expected to take several hours, in part because of the complexities of counting votes for a whopping 34 candidates.
Polls have closed in a by-election in the British constituency of Clacton where Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is hoping to regain his parliamentary seat.
Mr Farage, who had been facing scrutiny over a 5 million pound ($9 million) donation from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, dramatically quit as an MP last month and declared he would contest the by-election.
He said he would let voters judge him in a "people versus the establishment" contest.
None of the UK's other major parties decided to field candidates for the poll, deriding Mr Farage's move as a stunt, leaving the former banker to face a mix of independent candidates including a comedian known as Count Binface.
Count Binface has emerged as the key rival to Nigel Farage in the by-election. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Polls are set to close 10pm Thursday, local time, with the results expected to be announced sometime on Friday morning.
Unlike Australian elections, British election results are only publicly declared once all the votes are counted, and there is no preferencing, meaning the first-placed candidate only needs to have one more vote than every other candidate to be elected MP.
While Mr Farage is widely expected to win the race, his likely victory is not set to satisfy questions about the millions of pounds in donations that he has received.
Mr Farage triggered the vote last month when he resigned as an MP in the hope that it would put questions about his finances to bed and result in a resounding victory over his main political rivals from the Labour and Conservative parties.
Nigel Farage is the clear favourite, but Count Binface is attracting serious support in a by-election featuring a record 34 candidates, including an Australian software engineer and three "Loonies".
The UK Parliament's standards watchdog is investigating the 5 million pound undeclared donation made in 2024 by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
