A message to the people of Clacton

[MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack]

You will win the undying respect and gratitude of the whole nation if you use your votes to kick Farage out and elect Count Binface as your local MP.

And I don't think you will regret it. Underneath the silliness, there is an intelligent man with a genuine commitment to democracy. He might be a joker, but I believe he would serve you well if elected. And definitely better than Farage.

I don’t understand why Nigel Farage is only buying himself a few weeks grace because he’ll get elected again and the investigations into the donations will continue. It’s just madness isn’t it. I don’t believe that people will vote for the other candidates in large enough numbers.
What does he hope to achieve ? The allegations won’t be dropped only curtailed.
I didn’t listen to his entire speech on Wednesday though.

That makes no sense. The other parties know he has support in Clacton and that it would be difficult for any one of them to beat him with the anti Reform vote split amongst them all, making it a difficult seat to win. This happens in respect of all parties in different seats. Its not something they fear, its not unusual, and doesn't stop them putting up candidates even knowing they won't win.
In this case, the other parties are putting a spoke in Farages wheels. He wants to circumvent the due process whereby an MP is called into question, by making this a judgement by his constituents.
That's not how it works, as he could get re elected on the votes of a minority of the people of Clacton, (look how many councils Reform control, despite only 10% of the electorate voting for them) and give a false impression he had 'the approval of the public'.
The other parties have made it so when he wins, he wins only because there was no competition.

Ganging up on Nigel Farage or united in disgust at his corrupt shenanigans? Do you want them to pretend that it's ok to take £5million bungs from "friends" and not declare them in line with parliamentary rules?

Yes I agree with you tbf.

He wanted to win Clacton in competition with the other parties so he could say "look the people have judged me and still want me, which should supercede any enquiry by the establishment"

Yes.

Of course, if he had been really confident that he had genuinely done nothing wrong, he would have wanted all of the relevant evidence to be made publicly available and then gone to the people of Clacton to decide if they are happy with it. Curious timing to do this when the investigation hasn't yet been concluded.

Unless, of course, he is worried that the evidence might not be in his favour...?

Count Binface read Classics at Oxford (presumably as an Intergalactic Student) It is a really academically demanding course and even getting on it shows serious smarts and discipline.

All the humour aside, I think CB would do his best for the people of Clacton. The day he held his first constituency surgery would already be a damn sight more that Flouncing Farage ever managed.

How are your investments in the tiny violin industry going? It must be booming.

I agree. There is more to him than the silliness. He's experienced some challenges in life as well. He would probably make a very good MP.

Which begs the question as to why he's not running without the comedy act. We've seen enough comedy with the Labour leadership farce. Bringing in another MP because there's nobody good enough in the party. An absolute circus.

This is a reason for which I would admire him, but think how this may look to many of the people in Clacton, and how close to their background experience this might be. Absolutely agree that Farage would also seem to be a poor fit there, but he is the one who has had the post and the responsibility for representing the people who voted (again, this is probably a minority for a lot of elections). To change minds or to encourage people who are not voting and who would have no faith that any party gives a toss about the place they live, I don't think contempt or treating people as denizens of a joke territory, all totally in agreement with their MPs, worthy of a good larf, is the way to go at all.

I agree - he got to Oxford from Croydon, not via a pubic school. He isn’t in it for the prestige. Like others I would have liked at least one candidate from an established to stand so that ‘democracy’ was actually being offered up to the voters of Clacton and the £250000 cost of the by-election (which comes out of central govt funds, so WE are all paying for it) could be justified. However, I am hoping my faith in humanity is restored and Count BinFace is elected.

It would be another Zelenski moment, as he didn’t seriously expect to win, but stepped up when he was needed.

I agree with this. And it's the one aspect of this otherwise very enjoyable state of affairs that does give me pause.
I've watched several sets of interviews with the people of Clacton, and whether they were pro or anti Farage, the one thing they seemed to have in common, is that they are angry, about the state of Clacton and of their lives. Some blame the government and see Farage as a saviour. Others blame Farage for his neglect of them.
I'm wondering how much appetite angry people who think they are overlooked and their lives and town ignored are going to have for being at the centre of a national joke.
Its quite possible that it could be read as their real life problems being ignored while people without their struggles laugh it up because they've a bin for a candidate.
My concern being that this may drive Reform support rather than reduce it.

A circus entirely of NF's personal creation @LuckyHazelFox

@Ormally I do take your point but what I'm really hoping is that the run up to the by election might actually include some focus on the very real problems Clacton faces (like a lot of similar towns) There is going to be a vast amount of media attention and a lot of that will be because of Binface.

Noone should point at and mock the people of Clacton (I'm certainly not) They voted Reform in numbers I believe because many felt ignored by the major parties and Nige and his cronies promise the earth. Maybe enough time has passed since his election for them to see him as the hollow, self interested man he is and if not, they have the perfect right and ability to reelect him.

I agree with that to some extent but I see this as lose/lose for Farage now. If he wins the investigation resumes and will drag on for some time with all the corresponding headlines. If he’s defeated by a bin his political career is ended. That also applies if he’s defeated with a small majority. He’s just committed political suicide.

I really hope so!!

I know you mean well op but its this patronising comments that have strengthened Farage's support and others like him

People want to be listened to not patronised, they want to feel someone is on their side, you may not view Farage as being on their side, we know he is self serving but he did listen when millions of voters said we are not being listened to we just didn't like what we were hearing

I meant if he wins by a small majority. The heat’s addling my brain!

I don't think he listened at all. Not really. Sure, he spotted an opportunity to exploit people's grievances and he leapt at the opportunity to use it to further his own agenda. But he didn't listen to people's concerns with the intention of actually doing anything to address them.

I don't really understand what is patronising about saying to the people of Clacton that we will be grateful if they vote their corrupt MP out?

Absolutely. It's definitely very bad for Farage and I take the utmost pleasure in that. Was just musing really on the possible response in Clacton.

True!

It will be a win win either way. If he remains elected then the investigation goes ahead.
If he is dumped by Clacton which I suspect he would like then he goes back to being a general commentator and agitator doing interviews in Russia and other places.

I agree. I started off being quite amused by it but it is getting to me more than I would have expected.

I lived quite close to there (but have not been a Clacton resident). I moved elsewhere in Essex and think where I now am is somewhere really well looked after, but it's one of the areas that had a huge swing away from Lab and Lib - and mostly TO Reform - in the Council elections. It is dismaying, I disagree with most principles of how the boroughs are now being handled and by whom, but on the face of it, it would look like "everyone" here supported and supports Reform because of what happened. We still have to consider what keeps the area afloat, not what capsizes it or cements it being a place where only one mindset can exist.

Incidentally, I remember a documentary a long time ago, about Jaywick. It is not one I can find looking through the google top algorithms on the web now, but it did show a lot of the problems (deprivation, health, disability) that have cemented its reputation. OK, the choice was very deliberate, but one of the subjects involved was a huge guy, mid 50s, with an ankle tag and some really inflammatory facial tattoos. Joking. It was an ex-flautist, female about 30, who had had a career in a London orchestra but ended up in Jaywick with disability benefits and a problem heroin habit. Jaywick had an affordable bungalow. I am totally serious about this. Assumptions are worth challenging.

The idea of Farage as the listening ear of the people is a great big myth. Farage listens only to those people who echo back to him his own opinions. Often using the lines he has fed them in advance. If you see immigration as the root of all evil or can be persuaded so, then you will be listened to most performatively.
However, many 'ordinary people' have multiple concerns above and beyond immigration. High rents, low wages, growing wealth inequality, increasing fear of racism, because people of colour are 'ordinary people too, property destroyed and people feeling unsafe in their communities due to rioting.
Not much evidence he's listening to these less convenient ordinary people.

The Guardian had a piece today, which says that a by election can only be held with the consent of Parliament; that they could vote against it.

Another point is that in Gateshead, a Reform councillor resigned and Reform paid the costs of the by election. They won by 5 votes, a huge drop from the previous result.