Nigel Farage wins seat in UK parliament

Nigel Farage speaks during a press conference to announce that he will become the new leader of Reform UK and that he will stand as the parliamentary candidate for Clacton, Essex, at The Glaziers Hall in London, Monday June 3, 2024. while on the General Election campaign trail. Pic credit: AP

CLACTON-ON-SEA, England (Reuters): Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, won a seat in the British parliament for the first time on Friday in the seaside English town of Clacton-on-Sea, as voters deserted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.

Farage, whose career of anti-immigration, pro-Brexit campaigning has made him one of Britain's most recognisable and divisive political figures, comfortably beat the Conservative candidate Giles Watling who had previously held the seat.