As Nigel Farage inflicts an August byelection on the Clacton constituency in Essex, local voters are divided over whether they need, or want, to give the Reform UK leader a fresh mandate.
In this self-styled battle between the “establishment and the people” views range from adulatory to sceptical to outright cynical over a contest that all mainstream parties are boycotting, leaving Count Binface and Laurence Fox as Farage’s only potential rivals.
“I think it’s good he’s called an election,” says Sam Borgman (main image, right), who programmes electronics in racing cars. “It shines a spotlight on him and exposes his motives. It’s Wizard of Oz stuff, style over substance. I think having a man with a bin on his head as his rival is possibly the contempt he deserves.”
Earlier in the day, Farage had staged a quick media event in Frinton-on-Sea. “He looked rather rattled I thought, quite severe,” said Philippa, a resident who has previously voted Liberal Democrat. “It was quite extraordinary, just this wall of people in suits coming towards us just walking along; he wasn’t engaging with people.”
Another voter, Nick, said: “It’s a stunt, I think he has overplayed his hand. I suspect he had come back from the 250th celebrations in the US after meeting Trump people who told him: ‘You should go direct to the people’.”
Just two years after being elected an MP for the first time, Farage’s gamble is that voters know best and will see past the financial questions that are engulfing his leadership, and which some, like Borgman, believe are a trap of his own making.
Before 2024, the 70,000-strong constituency was a Conservative seat held by Giles Watling, and before that, Douglas Carswell, a Conservative who defected to Ukip.
Watling, who won by a landslide in 2019 with 72% of the vote, says his 24,700 majority was wiped out when Farage ran in 2024.
“He will win, of course, and then the parliamentary standards inquiry will resume, and depending on what happens there could be another byelection,” Watling says, for which he is “vaguely on standby”.
“I meet people all the time that said they voted for Farage but wish they hadn’t,” Watling says. “I won’t take anything from him – he is a genius in many ways. He talks, he tells people what they want to hear, and he does it very effectively.”
In Jaywick, a poorer neighbourhood 2 miles south of Clacton-on-Sea, voters are backing Farage.
“Nigel is not running scared of the parliamentary investigation,” says Martin, a retired locksmith who says he is on “first name terms” with Farage. “I think he is honest. What reason would he have not to be? He made his fortune in the City and he’s gone into politics to do something better for this country.
“He’s already been found guilty. He is the most bashed politician in this country but I think he would make a brillant prime minister.”
Jaywick was originally conceived as a holiday village and is now repeatedly recorded as one of the most deprived areas in England, with high unemployment, poor housing that is prone to flooding, and poor health outcomes for an older than average population.
George, who is hosting a stall next to the new SunSpot business park once described as “a ray of hope” for the town, says: “The buses stopped running down here for a few weeks until last Thursday because of the potholes. We had to fill them ourselves. Farage doesn’t do anything for the residents down here, really.”
Paul, in Clacton-on Sea, says the poverty in Jaywick is well known but Farage can fix it. “He just needs to stay. He needs to stop quitting when things get tough.” He says he is not worried about the financial questions swirling around the Reform leader. “They’re all the same, politicians, even David Cameron was in it for the money.”
Mike French, a retiree walking his dog alongside a golden sandy beach in Jaywick, goes back further to make the same point. “He’s not corrupt. I mean look at Maggie Thatcher and the Saudis and her son,” he said in reference to allegations Mark Thatcher benefited financially while his mother was the prime minister.
“They are frightened of [Farage] because he wants to change too much in this country that they don’t want him to change,” says French.
His former wife, Clare, who lives in Clacton-on-Sea, says the town is so run down now she got up that morning and thought: “I don’t want to live here any more.”
But is Farage going to fix that? “No,” interjects Mike, with an air of resignation. “He’s got too much on his plate. Let’s face it, we come somewhere in the bottom.” But having moved from Dagenham, in London, he adds: “I wouldn’t move from here.”
Further down the beach path, Chris protests over the lack of a decent playground for his two young children or nursery places in Jaywick. He is still voting for Farage because he thinks he is “committed” and “for the working people”.
But, he adds: “He should be a little bit more transparent if he thinks the people of Jaywick are going to stick up for him. Hopefully he has done nothing wrong, but if he has he doesn’t deserve to be an MP.”
