Nigel Farage

So I was feeling good about it.

But of course, Essex, we've put a superhuman, you've put a superhuman amount of effort into this over the course of the last couple of months.

And indeed, I've spent a huge amount of time travelling around towns in the county, realising the sheer significance of a county that has half the shadow cabinet in it as members of parliament, all of whom assumed they were very, very safe.

particularly given the chemi-bounce.

Oh yes, the chemi-bounce.

Which is why reform getting 38.5% of the vote, to the Conservatives 24.5% of the vote, and us getting 53 of the 77 seats is unbelievable.

In fact...

We haven't just crushed the Red Wall.

Today, in Essex, we've crushed the Blue Wall as well.

It is an amazing thing.

If you look at the numbers, then Kemi Badnok, who this morning gave a speech about the renewal of the Conservative Party,

Kemi Badenoch, on these numbers, would lose her seat at the next general election.

And so would Alex Burgart, James Cleverley, the Chief Whip, Rebecca Harris, Richard Holden, Priti Patel, and my favourite.

How can you be called Cleverley from Braintree?

And to begin negotiating, giving away the Chagos Islands, which is exactly what he did.

And you know, on issue after issue, where we think the Labour government are getting it wrong, we see the roots of all of it lie in those 14 years, and in particular, in the last five years of that Conservative government.

And for all the efforts of mainstream media to boost Kemi, nobody is going to forgive them for the Boris wave.

for the net zero obsession, for the decline of law and order, for so many of the... But running down our defences, to the extent we've barely got a Royal Navy that's operational, they're not going to be forgiven.

So tonight, we celebrate.

This result, this Essex result, just means so very much to me.