Rejoiner finally admits Brexit defeat after Nigel Farage’s Clacton victory

The leader of the anti-Brexit Rejoin EU Party has resigned from his post just days after Nigel Farage romped to victory in Clacton.

Richard Hewison, who became leader of the Rejoin EU Party after its inception in 2020, announced his decision to step down last night after taking full responsibility for the defeat in the coastal constituency.

The Rejoin EU Party's Clacton candidate John Stevens, who spoke to GB News ahead of the polls opening, went into the by-election trying to convince voters that Brexit was a mistake.

Despite Mr Stevens beating Mr Farage into second place in Buckingham in 2010, the ex-Tory MEP ended up receiving just 492 votes, equating to around 1.4 per cent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Mr Farage romped to victory with the backing of 22,239 constituents, extending his majority to 12,784 after Count Binface hoovered up 9,455 votes.

Mr Hewison, who stood as the Rejoin EU Party's candidate for London Mayor in 2021, opened his resignation letter by saying expressing his mixed feelings following the Clacton count.

He wrote: "Although I was pleased that we came third in last Thursday’s Clacton by-election, we could and should have done far better, and as party leader I take full responsibility for that."

Mr Hewison added: "In an election in which the architect of Brexit himself was on the ballot, we should have been able to persuade the UK’s Rejoin community to get behind our party.

"We failed to do so in circumstances that should, in essence, have presented us with an open goal.

"It was heartening to see that 492 people voted for us.

"However, a very large proportion of those were people whom our six to eight volunteers spoke to face to face on the doorstep.

"Given the circumstances, I should have been able, as leader, to mobilise more than 100 volunteers to join us in Clacton, which I believe would have produced a markedly different result.

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"I failed to do so, and I take responsibility for that failure."

The Rejoin EU Party, which was co-founded by ex-Tory MEP Brendan Donnelly, has failed to retain its deposit in every single Westminster election contested since 2021.

However, the result in Clacton was the party's second-best, with the vote share falling narrowly behind the 1.8 per cent Bill Colegrave received in Remain-voting Hammersmith & Chiswick in 2024.

The party's electoral performance has also remained far below the level of public support for Britain returning to the European Union, with YouGov suggesting 55 per cent would now back reversing Brexit.

Brexiteers have stressed to GB News that the polls would likely narrow or even switch in favour of staying out of the Brussels bloc when the terms of rejoining the EU become clearer.

Anti-Brexit demonstrators were also ridiculed on social media earlier this year after just a few hundred protesters descended on London ahead of the anniversary of the 2016 vote.

Mr Hewison's resignation also prompted a response from the pro-Brexit campaign group Britain Unbound.

In a statement, the group said: "The leader of the Rejoin EU Party has resigned, following the poor result in the Clacton by-election.

"We wish Richard well in his future endeavours, but would respectfully suggest that it was not his fault Clacton didn't vote for his party.

"They just don't want to rejoin the EU."

Almost 70 per cent of voters in Clacton voted to cut ties with the EU in 2016.

The seat has also been represented by a number of high-profile Eurosceptics, including ex-Ukip MP Douglas Carswell.