WATCH: Nigel Farage congratulates new Reform MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock

Nigel Farage has said “go on my son” to the new Reform MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock as the party won their fifth parliamentary seat.

After a recount, Reform UK won the Basildon South and East Thurrock constituency with a majority of just 98 votes from Labour candidate Jack Ferguson.

“Our candidate James McMurdock was a paper candidate, drafted in at the last minute, former city boy, and he was absolutely neck and neck with Labour,” Mr Farage said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“So I rang him up and said ‘Look, give me the name of your agent, so I can find out what’s happening because they were on the third recount’ – he said ‘I haven’t got an agent. I’m my own agent.’

“I said, ‘well, who’s in the hall watching the vote count? And he said ‘my mum and dad’ – and he’s won. He’s an MP – go on my son!”

James McMurdock gains the seat from former Tory MP Stephen Metcalfe, who held his seat in 2019 with a 19,922 majority.

Mr Metcalfe was first elected in 2010 when the constituency was created and consistently held his seat. This time around, he lost to Reform by 2,019 votes.

The full results for South Basildon and East Thurrock were:

• Simon Breedon (SDP) 140

• Steven Burnett (Ind) 275

• Jack Ferguson (Lab) 12,080

• Elizabeth Grant (Green) 1,718

• GAIN: James McMurdock (Ref) 12,178

• Stephen Metcalfe (Con) 10,159

• Neil Speight (Ind) 1,928

• Dave Thomas (Lib Dem) 1,071