Reform UK win fifth seat after recount gives them majority of just NINETY EIGHT votes

McMurdock adds to an historic Westminster tally for Reform - he joins Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe in Parliament.

Reacting to the news, party leader Farage said: "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 in the seat.

Reform wins South Basildon and East Thurrock! 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/76rQGYveal

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 5, 2024

"I rang him up earlier... I said: 'Look, phone your agent, 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?' - he said: 'My mum and dad!'

"He's won - he's an MP! Go on my son!"

McMurdock, following the recount, was confirmed to have taken the seat from the Tories - unhorsing Stephen Metcalfe, who won with an overwhelming 65.4 per cent of the vote in 2019.

MORE AS REFORM MAKE HISTORIC GAINS:

• Nigel Farage FINALLY becomes an MP after smashing Tories and Labour in Clacton - Reform wins in four constituencies
  
• GB News viewers ROAR in support of Nigel Farage as Reform UK secures 13 seats in exit poll: 'He's building a fantastic base!'
  
• Reform’s Nigel Farage tipped to give Keir Starmer PMQs headache: ‘Damn good performer!’
  

His - and Farage's - victories in Essex contribute to a night of humiliation for the Conservatives in an area considered Tory heartland since the days of Margaret Thatcher.

In total, the party lost eight seats in the county - with Labour taking five, Reform two, and the Lib Dems one.

After recounts came to a close, McMurdock received 12,178 votes - just edging out Labour's Jack Ferguson with 12,080.

The new MP said: "It’s an absolute privilege and the gravity of responsibility is not lost on me."

🚨Breaking News: James McMurdock wins in South Basildon and East Thurrock! pic.twitter.com/gNxr4AffAx

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) July 5, 2024

Another video of Farage reacting to the news with glee has made the rounds on social media, with the party leader grinning as he takes a call from McMurdock.

Farage can be heard telling his party's fifth MP: "Well, all I can tell you now, as an elected politician, is that your life is ruined completely - congratulations!"

The Reform leader immediately began laying plans for introducing his party's youngest Parliamentarian to the press.

Farage said: "You just calm down for a bit... I'll be with you at 10am in whichever you think is the best, busiest thoroughfare, we'll tell all the media, we'll go for a walkabout and we'll have a lot of fun. Well done mate."