The Circus Comes to Clacton: Why a Seaside Town Is Tuning Out Farage's By-Election Farce
Over the past two years, Clacton has been treated as a case study of Britain's political sclerosis, an opportunity to talk about division, deprivation and revenge. It elected Nigel Farage as an MP in 2024, and because the Reform UK leader has triggered a byelection in the seaside constituency to shore up his support, on Thursday it is being asked if it will do so again. It's also being asked to consider the pledges of a man dressed as a bin and those of 32 other candidates entering the race from as far afield as Australia. Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are boycotting the election as a farce, but here the feeling is broadly mutual. The view on the ground is that turnout will be low. The view everywhere else is that Farage will probably win the byelection but lose much of what remains of his credibility, not least because once re-installed as MP, he could yet face an investigation into undeclared gifts, which would lead to another byelection.
