Farage resigns as Clacton MP and will contest the by-election

[Twiglets1]

Nigel Farage is resigning as MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election in the constituency - which he will stand in.

He says he wants the people of Clacton to decide whether he is worthy of representing them - not the mainstream media who he feels constantly attack him personally as well as the party he represents.

Almost everything he says is lies or exaggeration, but he's got where he is by creating a cult where his worshipers see any attempt to point that out as proof of victimisation.

Rachel Reeves 💥

"If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I wont stop him."

Yeah, you’re right. It was a poor analogy but we live in an era when male can be female dontcha know 🤭. I hope Binface wins the ‘face off’ … it may even upset the establishment even more.

Witty!

It is the silly season so Farage can be ridiculous while the rest of the political class are on holiday or people are watching the football. This is not strategy, it’s panic.

Binface now 5 to 1 to win.

Forget all the other names, it’s Binface vs Bin Juice. How fitting!

Nice one Rachel 🤣

It is wonderful that everyone, right and left, is taking the piss out of Farage. He has united the UK, but not in the way he planned.

I knew when Burnham did the shady thing by forcing an unnecessary by-election and somewhat dubiously messing with the democratic process it would be the start of more shady dealings and more waste of taxpayers money for narcissists' ambitions.

In the Makerfield by-election I still want to know what the sitting MP got in return for resigning- this appears to be an obvious question no journo has asked - he gave up a 90 some k salary and the democratic mandate he got and all the things he said he was going to do - they're all gone, clearly - so what did he get in return? Or what was he promised? I'd like some scrutiny of this because it appears by-elections are up for grabs, possibly to the highest bidder, who knows.

There is no way anyone gives up a democratic mandate and a 90k salary for pure love of Andy Burnham. If our election process is up for grabs in this way, it's a threat to democracy. Given the democratic process seems now to be perverted to prop up political ambitions at a politician's whim, what's to stop this happening all over the place and diverting public money away from much needier causes? It's honestly so lacking in integrity and decency and I can't believe people weren't more angry about it with Burnham. Apparently politicians can constantly reach new lows.

Nail on the head- something underhand went on there and the media are ignoring it!

I agree completely that the Burnham thing is underhand and there's something dodgy going on. I think that whole saga will be far more damaging to Labour than leaving Starmer in place would have been. It's starting to look now like there may have been things about to come out of the woodwork that mean the sitting MP would have had to step down anyway.

That doesn't make Farage's vile politics OK, and none of it comes close to being as bad as what Farage is up to , financially or politically.

There is nothing dodgy to report

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/08/untold-story-why-reform-figures-face-nca-scrutiny-nigel-farage

Agree. Josh Simons doesn't exactly have a squeaky clean record either.

Democracy is not up for grabs though; the people of Makerfield voted fairly and squarely for Burnham. And it was not a ‘done deal’ as Reform seriously expected to win. There was nothing shady about it. He wanted to stand in Gorton but was prevented from doing so. Simons stepped aside, that was his choice. Impuning his integrity without any evidence is why politics in this country is so poor now. Perhaps focus on those who trouser £5 million without any explanation.

Perhaps focus on those who trouser £5 million without any explanation.

People can consider more than one thing at once, you know? It's not necessarily one or the other.

I do wonder about people who say this kind of thing, as if it's normal to think that humans can only hold one thought at a time.

Absolutely. Attempts to divert the spotlight are not going to work.

It looks as if Farage did something very similar to Makerfield in Clacton.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/02edcbee-8a14-4cd4-ab75-a342096ed4ff

Good thing he is no longer an MP, then?

I don't like what happened in Makerfield one bit. But it is a very different situation to the Farage circus.

If there was anything 'dodgy' to report, the likes of the Telegraph, Mail, Express, Times would have been all over it.

Politicians being parachuted into so called safe seats happens all the time.

Share token won't work ☹️

Questioning the motivation of Josh Simons after what he did in Labour Together is perfectly legitimate.

It is but that doesn't mean there is anything dodgy about it. And that is what the whataboutery is about.

It won't archive either.

I don't understand how you can immediately presume there is nothing dodgy about it if you are aware of Simons previous behaviour.
The pp was right to question it. Perhaps more will come out later down the line.

The same way I don't understand how you can immediately presume there is something dodgy about it.

As the pp said, media is not reporting anything about it being dodgy.

Sorry about the link.

The Survation poll, carried out in January 2024, tested support for Reform under Mack's candidacy and under a scenario in which Farage stood instead. It found that Reform could overtake the Conservatives in Clacton if Farage replaced Mack.

Mack said he was asked by Reform to issue a statement supporting Farage after being removed as candidate and was promised he would be Farage's head of campaign. He said he later stood as an independent and was never reimbursed the £8,500 he had spent.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I realised I was not going to be part of the campaign in the way I had been promised, so decided to stand as an independent instead.”