Nigel Farage has finally won a seat in Westminster at the eighth attempt as he was elected MP for Clacton.
The Reform UK leader comfortably beat the Conservative incumbent Giles Watling with 21,225 votes - a majority of 8,405.
His surprise entry into the election a month ago, having initially ruled out standing, boosted support for Reform UK across the country - and helped to scupper Rishi Sunak's hopes of closing the gap on Labour.
"There is a massive gap on the centre right of British politics and my job is to fill it and that's exactly what I'm gonna do," Mr Farage said after the result was announced.
"My plan is to build a mass national movement over the course of the next few years and hopefully be big enough to challenge the general election properly in 2029."
After seven unsuccessful attempts to win a seat in parliament, Friday's victory finally puts Mr Farage, 60, inside a political institution he has spent decades railing against.
“Believe me, folks, this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you,” he said.His anti-immigration party had been predicted by the exit poll to win 13 seats but this was scaled back to just four by 4am.
Mr Farage insisted the increased vote share for Reform UK is “not a protest vote”.
He told reporters at Clacton leisure centre: "It shows that there is a level of disenchantment with politics. I think people are looking for something different.
"But, and here's the important thing, this is not a protest vote. They're not saying two fingers up to the establishment. They're saying, 'you know what, we really agree with what these guys are saying, we really agree with what they're saying about tax levels, we agree with what they say about levels of legal net migration'.
"I promise you the enthusiasm of people voting Reform UK is truly extraordinary."
On changes to the electoral system, Mr Farage added: "I was Nigel Farage MEP for 21 years, I won two national elections under proportional representation.
"Believe you me, the appetite for electoral reform is going to be enormous after this election, and that's one of the many things that I'm going to be up front, out there, campaigning for. I might even work with the Lib Dems on that."
