Nigel Farage has won

You are correct on all counts Cossy 👍

I think Farage would quickly give up if it was in his own interests. He is not a good MP. We have seen how little he has done for Clacton.
Why does he want to be an MP if he doesn't want to actually do the job?
The answer is clear to me.

Tuliptree

Apparently he didn’t turn up because of security concerns. Interesting isn’t it that both he and Trump play the security card allbeit in different ways. Well the Parliamentary investigation will resume now

Actually, it’s slightly worse than that, Farage “claims” Essex Police advised him not to go to the count, Essex Police categorically deny this.

Already at least one polling station has been reported to the appropriate authorities due to alledged intimidation and rule breaking by Reform.

What a dirty mess our entire political system is becoming!

Ah yes Cossy but you’re only saying that because you ( and many of us) are bitter and twisted and distraught because we all thought ( not hoped) CB would win.

Tuliptree

Ah yes Cossy but you’re only saying that because you ( and many of us) are bitter and twisted and distraught because we all thought ( not hoped) CB would win.

Yes am so distraught I couldn’t eat my corn flakes. 🤣
Am afraid I have to go to the chemists in this heat this morning and that bothers me. Not Farage getting a seat he already had

Kandinsky

Well he let the people of Clacton decide his fate and they have, with more votes than before.

Which is a ridiculous claim, the people of Clacton are not in a position to decide his fate, they do not have the facts upon which to make a decision. If they want him to continue being their MP despite him having held no surgeries or not having attended one meeting of The Clacton Regeneration Programme that’s the only decision they have made.

Clacton may/will get nothing from Farage but Count Binface's team has produced a video of the seaside places there, that make Clacton look like somewhere to visit.

Ok - perhaps Farage lovers could tell me why he stood in a constituency such Clacton, not his home town? Why not Southwark? This isn't denigrating anyone - we all know it is because its a mono cultural , low income , deprived area. Not their fault they feel left behind. Farage has promised the moon on a stick.

Farage has started as he means to go on by missing the count with a lie about his security.
There was no security risk.
He will leave Clacton at speed if he hasn't already gone.
The people of Clacton may never hear from him again.

They will when it suits him Lee Anderson says he’s entitled to another maiden speech as a ‘new’MP and that traditionally is all about your constituency. Of course LA could be wrong

Tuliptree

They will when it suits him Lee Anderson says he’s entitled to another maiden speech as a ‘new’MP and that traditionally is all about your constituency. Of course LA could be wrong

Well if LA is correct and NF does - the publicity might put Clacton on Sea on the map for the so-called 'staycationers' and bring some much needed ££ into the economy.

So there is that...

Tuliptree

Ah yes Cossy but you’re only saying that because you ( and many of us) are bitter and twisted and distraught because we all thought ( not hoped) CB would win.

Hahaha but of course!

I see the investigation into Farage has already resume!

It’s seems Farage’s little ploy failed!

What a complete and utter waste of public funds and everyone’s time!

But he knew that didn’t t he? Maybe he was just hoping time might produce a deus ex machina

Cossy I am fining you £10 for overuse of the exclamation mark😂
My English teacher used to say that’s what they cost so use them sparingly.

Maremia

Clacton may/will get nothing from Farage but Count Binface's team has produced a video of the seaside places there, that make Clacton look like somewhere to visit.

That’s good xx

There is very little in actual Clacton to draw people to it, BUT within the entire constituency there are some decent pubs, restaurants, beaches and lovely green areas.

Pretty short of decent hotels though as those holidaying here tend to stay in caravans, so the pull towards visiting is pretty limited.

I hope and pray that something is done to improve this area for its residents, but the ingrained attitudes of some of the residents and the very high deprivation in both Jaywick and Pier Ward will certainly not help.

I genuinely wish them well, maybe Farage will actually surprise us all and behave like a half decent MP! 🙏🙏🤞🤞

Oreo

Cossy I am fining you £10 for overuse of the exclamation mark😂
My English teacher used to say that’s what they cost so use them sparingly.

Oooops!!!!!

Sorry, you are correct. In future I’ll take more care.

😁

Your main parties handed it to Farage on a plate by not turning up.
You,d think they like the division this eegit brings with him!
Why are people in an area of deprivation voting for someone who will make life so much worse for them,it beggars belief.
Alllwing all the loony type candidates only made things worse,people obviously have a problem voting with only two or three choices….the 34? Candidates must have caused a meltdown amongst these folk who think Farage is on their side .
?

FriedGreenTomatoes2 There is something rather odd about established parties refusing to contest Clacton and then commentators diminishing Reform’s victory because there was little opposition.

Not really. The "established parties" and "commentators" are not the same thing.

Your main parties handed it to Farage on a plate by not turning up

Quite.

And it appears to have backfired big time, going by the angst on here.

Tuliptree

Apparently he didn’t turn up because of security concerns. Interesting isn’t it that both he and Trump play the security card allbeit in different ways. Well the Parliamentary investigation will resume now

That begs the question of whether it is actually safe for him to continue to be their MP - and I'm not being dismissive about such claims because we all know there are some crackpots roaming around. Witness the late Ann Widdecombe's appalling murder.

But it also makes one wonder - why Clacton? He spends so little time there, does not hold constituency surgeries - tho' does attend business-meetings it's said. Is Clacton his 'media backdrop' as has been suggested by some residents?

For decades, Clacton's business owners, hospitality workers, and residents have felt completely forgotten by successive mainstream governments in Westminster. High streets are plagued by boarded-up shops, transport infrastructure is poor, and a severe flood risk scares away major supermarket or commercial investment. (BBC News item)

It really does need an MP invested in its future. I am not sure NF is the right man for the job though.

It appears that the police did not advise him to stay away from the count. However, I think the most telling thing about that is what the BBC reported that he said
‘Farage says he will not attend the count, saying: "I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory... and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.’ The arrogance of the man. I am sure as well as the comedy candidates, there were a lot of genuine local candidates. Who is Farage to say they are nobodies?

Farage was always going to win the election, that IMO, was never in doubt but it was always going to be about the scale o44.f the win. Farage and Reform put a huge amount of resource into turning out their supporters to vote, the question surely is, how well did that succeed? The turnout in the 2024 election was 58.7%, for this highly publicised by- election it was 44.37% and Farage got 63% of the vote against a collection of "joke" candidates. TBH I don't see this as a huge success for Farage. I'm sure he'd still win if the main candidates had stood but I think his percentage of the vote would have been significantly reduced. Getting 22K to vote Reform out of an electorate of 78K with the amount of money Reform spent in the constituency and the number of Reform supporters out on the streets, doesn't seem too great to me when there was no real opposition. I would think that he's pretty disappointed and he still has the investigations into his rather murky finances!