Yesterday morning, just as the voters of Clacton were going to the polls, broadcaster, commentator and prominent Nigel Farage supporter Adam Brooks took to social media to send the following motivational message:

‘If you’d rather a pr*** in a bin costume to represent everyday British people in parliament, over an experienced politician… you’re sick in the head. 

‘A complete whack job. Your contempt for our political system and the people of Clacton is clear. Embarrassing’.

In the end, 9,455 of the good citizens of Clacton turned out to be whack jobs, as Count Binface outperformed the polling and secured a respectable 27 per cent of the vote.

However the visitor from Sigma IX was comfortably defeated, as Farage was returned to Parliament with 22,239 votes – a marginal increase of 1,014 on his result two years ago.

It was supposed to be his great moment of triumph. 

But the result was greeted by near silence, as he and his supporters failed to attend the count. Farage claimed it was on the advice of Essex Police. 

Essex Police in turn stated they had proffered no such advice to any of the candidates. A planned victory speech scheduled for 10.30am was also hurriedly cancelled.

The reality is that, as his supporters’ increasingly hysterical election day tweets underlined, the prevailing sense inside Reform is actually one of relief, rather than validation. Last week a Reform official told me: ‘I think there’s an outside chance he’ll lose. This whole thing is crazy. It isn’t worth the risk.’

Whether or not that analysis proves correct depends on three factors, all of which link directly back to Farage’s primary motivation for launching his desperate Clacton gamble in the first place. 

One reason was he wanted to use the endorsement of his constituents to scare off the parliamentary authorities – and his political opponents – from continuing to pursue the standards committee investigation into his undeclared £5million gift from British-Thai crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. 

Secondly, he hoped to convince the Press their pursuit of the Harborne cash, along with other questions over Reform’s increasingly murky financial affairs, were falling on deaf ears. And finally, and most importantly, he wanted to use his victory to reset the Westminster narrative and arrest his party’s slide in the polls.

It already seems certain his attempt to derail the Harborne probe will fail. Not least because Reform’s leader appears to have fundamentally misunderstood the process surrounding it. 

Last week a source revealed Farage’s advisers mistakenly believed the standards committee investigation would be terminated once he resigned as an MP. 

In reality that inquiry will recommence where it left off when the House returns from its summer recess.

Nigel Farage, pictured during his 3am victory speech, has won the Clacton by-election after being forced to defend his seat against a string of comedy candidates

Count Binface celebrates as he came second in the Clacton by-election. He kept his deposit for the first time after winning 9,455 votes

Farage is set to be similarly disappointed by the reaction of his electoral rivals. His calculation was that the major party’s decision not to run candidates against him represented cold-feet. And that once he had secured the endorsement of the voters, even if he was found to have broken parliament’s rules, they would back off from forcing a recall petition and yet another by-election.

But that’s not how it’s going to play out. If anything, the summer circus in Clacton has emboldened his rivals. 

‘This farcical by-election was all of his own making,’ one Tory source told me. ‘And we’re going to make sure if and when there’s a rerun, that’s pinned on him as well. We’ll be running a candidate. And we’ll be putting Reform sleaze at the heart of the campaign.’

The same is true of Farage’s attempts to scare the media off from digging around his party’s increasingly dodgy-looking finances. A week ago it emerged his close ally businessman Arron Banks had hired private investigators to examine journalists throwing a spotlight on Reform’s murky financial affairs. 

The official line was this was because of a belief within the party that leaks about sensitive financial information were being passed to the Press by Government agencies, specifically the National Crime Agency.

But inside Reform the real suspicion is there is a mole – or moles – operating within their ranks. And there is no expectation their malicious – or public-spirited – activity will stop any time soon.

‘Everyone knows it’s coming from inside the party,’ one Reform source revealed. ‘And it’s all to do with people who are looking to undermine Nigel. They’re not going to suddenly disappear. Unless we catch them at it.’

These internal tensions are set to be exacerbated by the ongoing – and increasingly vicious – infighting amongst the various Reform factions, and in particular those within the party who think Farage’s senior lieutenant Zia Yusuf has become a liability they can no longer afford. 

There were already concerns the party’s self-styled Shadow Home Secretary was out of control. And things have been brought to breaking point by his intemperate attack on former Tory defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace, whom he branded a ‘traitor’ for providing settlement for Afghan nationals who had worked for the British Armed Forces. 

According to another Reform insider: ‘Zia’s crossed a line. Nigel knows he’s gone too far. It’s now just a matter of time before he’s shown the door.’

But the biggest problem is Reform’s increasingly precipitous decline in the polls. Or, perhaps more significantly, the implosion of Nigel Farage’s personal approval ratings.

As the residents of Clacton were preparing to go to the polls to offer their support to their favourite son, a survey of national attitudes towards the various party leaders was being published by Ipsos. Andy Burnham was top, with a net approval of +19. But even more significant was the figure for Reform’s leader.

Of those questioned, 24 per cent said they ‘like’ Farage. But a staggering 65 per cent said they ‘dislike’ him. That represents a net approval rating of -39 points.

These are not politically sustainable numbers. Nigel Farage has always been a ‘Marmite’ figure. But his personal brand is no longer divisive, but radioactive.

Yes, Farage has re-secured the approval of voters in Reform’s safest seat. But at what price? He has failed to derail the investigation into his personal finances. Far from deflecting media scrutiny into his party’s own dubious sources of funding his Clacton stunt has simply shone a summer spotlight on them. And for every voter who sees a plucky battler against the establishment there are three others who see a man trying to obfuscate and deflect and hide from the sleaze engulfing his party.

This morning Nigel Farage has effectively become Reform’s Jeremy Corbyn. Two years ago Labour’s former leader, who had been cast out by Keir Starmer in disgrace, stood in the general election as an independent in Islington North. It was widely perceived he would lose his seat. Instead he triumphed, winning with almost 50 per cent of the vote. Chants of ‘Oooooh Je-re-my Cor-byn’ rang out once again around Islington Town Hall.

It had zero impact on the national electoral landscape. Corbyn’s moment had been and gone. He was still a political fixture, but no longer a future Prime Minister.

So it is for Nigel Farage. Just over a month ago he was the MP for Clacton, facing a parliamentary sleaze investigation, mounting questions about his party’s funding and slumping poll ratings. And today he is the MP for Clacton, facing a parliamentary sleaze investigation, mounting questions about his party’s funding and slumping poll ratings.

Oh, yes. And he has just got 12,784 more votes than a man dressed as a bin.