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Nigel Farage was at the centre of a growing row over not attending the Clacton by-election count due to an alleged âthreatâ against him.
Reform UK said the party leader had been âadvisedâ by Essex Police not to go to the count due to âa credible threat against himâ.
But it is understood that the force did not advise any candidate not to turn up for the official declaration.
Mr Farage won Thursdayâs contest, which the main other parties were not contesting, with 22,239 votes, or 62.8%.
Count Binface came second on 9,455 votes, nearly 27%, with 32 other candidates having entered the race.
If he had gone to the count, Mr Farage would have faced photos and clips of him next to the Count, the space and electoral warrior character created by comedian Jon Harvey, being beamed around the world.
The Reform leader proclaimed victory before the official announcement.
He said he would not attend the official declaration of the result at Clacton Leisure Centre as Essex Police had told him about an âorganised campaign to disrupt and degrade the resultâ.
A Reform UK spokesperson later said: âEssex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count tonight due to a credible threat against him.â
However, it is understood that Essex Police did not tell Mr Farage, or any other candidate, not to attend the count.
A force spokesperson said: âWe have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.â
Police forces very rarely give direct guidance to politicians not to attend counts and instead are far more likely to raise potential threats or other issues and it is down to individual candidates to decide how they respond.