Donald Trump congratulates Nigel Farage on 'big win' amid Reform UK party 'success' in election
5 July 2024, 14:55 | Updated: 5 July 2024, 15:21
Donald Trump has congratulated Nigel Farage on his "big WIN" after the Reform UK leader was elected as an MP for the first time in the general election.
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Posting to his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: "Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success.
"Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country! DJT."
The pair have been long-time allies with Mr Farage originally intending to spend much of this year in the US to help him in his campaig, before his U-turn for Reform UK.
It's the party leader's eighth attempt to become an MP, having previously run in two by-elections and five general elections as a UKIP candidate before leading Reform UK.
He secured a victory with 21,225 votes unseating the Conservatives who came second with 12,820 votes.
The result was announced just before 3:30am, with Conservative candidate Giles Watling losing his seat to Mr Farage in what's been described as a "landslide victory".
Labour candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul received 7,448 votes, grabbing headlines for his fashion choices throughout the campaign."
Lib Dem candidate Matthew Bensilum received 2,016 votes, while Conservative candidate Giles Watling, who previously held the seat, received 12,820 votes.
Green Party candidate Natasha Osben received 1,935 votes, Independent Tony Mack received 317 votes, Climate Party candidate Craig Jamieson received 48, Heritage Party candidate, Tasos Papanastasiou, claimed 33 votes, while UKIP candidate Andrew Pemberton received 116 votes.
Mr Farage previously said he would not stand, announcing that he would focus on campaigning for Donald Trump in the US instead.
He later U-turned saying: "I just realised there are millions of people out there that wanted me to do this, and if I didn't do it, they will feel very let down.
"So I'm going to do it.
"And you know what, we're going to get a huge number of votes, we're going to get seats in Parliament. And the ambition is to be the voice of opposition to a big Labour majority."
Nigel Farage enters election race as he announces he will stand in Clacton
