Watching the Clacton by-election count declaration has been an odd experience.
Farage, unsurprisingly, increased the number of votes that he won in this election compared to 2024, although not by much.
That said, he did take 63% of the vote amongst the 44% of eligible voters who decided to partake in this election.
Count Binface did, remarkably, get 27%. Between them, they took 90% of the vote, with the rest spread across spoiled papers and 32 other candidates, one of whom secured just 7 votes, with no one else securing 500 votes.
But the most bizarre aspect of this totally unnecessary by-election is that Nigel Farage did not turn up for the count at an election that he effectively called.
As has been pointed out on Sky News by Jon Craig, with whom I co-edited the Southampton University Students' Union newspaper in 1977, the last time that a by-election victor did that was in 1981, when the late Bobby Sands could not attend the count after winning a by-election because he was serving a prison sentence in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland, and subsequently died following a hunger strike.
I think that contextualises just how unusual Farage's behaviour is. And this refusal has to be linked to the fact that we now know that he has cancelled a press conference previously announced for 10.30 this morning.
The inevitable speculation about the cause for his doing so suggests that this must be linked to his awareness that, now that he is an MP again, the inquiry into his personal finances, and the broader questions that are arising with regard to the financing of his party, will inevitably resurface across the media, and he is unwilling to face questions on those issues.
I will be recording a video on my reflections on this result fairly early this morning, which we will publish as soon as we can. However, before ever getting to the microphone to do that, I think it is entirely appropriate to note that what Nigel Farage has proved with his behaviour throughout this by-election episode is that he is contemptuous of Parliament, democracy, the media, the police, the electorate and all the institutions that underpin society in the UK.
That said, we do, however, have to note that 63% of those who turned out in the election voted for him. What we have to worry about are the consequences of that for the stability of this country.
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The UK media are in large part culpable for Fart-rage’s rise. Giving him platforms (Question Time etc) from which to blather. The pathology is similar to that of giving the climate imbeciles equivalent time (I’m looking @ you BBC R4) . Neither has anything substantive to say. In the case of Fart-rage & the ills the UK faces? The drought? & the water companies? Silence. He is a grifter, a tRump-mini-me. Ditto the others. He is also a reaction to the single-party that rules the UK – a two-fingers to the other set of grifters & know-nothings that occupy Wezzie.
It is a hollow victory for the self-proclaimed tribune of the people that almost 27% of voters chose the bin over him.
Fa***e is, of course, a deceptive grifter, with absolutely nothing to offer the country except fascist fraud, and the hatred, violence and economic destruction it generates.
But as you point out, in the middle of August, during the hottest day of the year, >22,000 people voted for him in Clacton, and will again if asked to.
Labour under Burnham, still shows zero sign of appreciating the level of disillusionment and anger in left-behind communities. I don’t personally see much difference between Reform UK Ltd. and the Labour Together/Labour Link anti-democratic, lying, morally incompetent machine that has its grasping, corrupt hands round our throats at present – >400 MPs, 2 years on, and still unable to use their power to make the world a significantly better place. Why? They have the tools. The knowledge is out there. We KNOW what to do. But they would prefer to fill our prisons with peaceful protesters than water company executives, or cladding manufacturers, they prefer supporting genocidal tyrants to the soft power of overseas aid, they prefer demonising the vulnerable, to deposing the vampires.
Nor do they seem to appreciate what has been going on in British politics involving fraudulent manipulation of complicit billionaire owned tech, dishonest politicians, and media failure, aimed at the takeover and destruction of democracy in Western nations. Fa***e is an unimportant figurehead.
Cameron, Osborne, Wigmore, Banks, Cambridge Analytica, Gove, Johnson, Truss, Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel, David Evans, Harborne, Cottrell, Murdoch, Labour Together’s nasty collection of plotters, Starmer, Josh Simons, Burnham, the Lobby, these are the people who should be running down the street with their coats over their heads.
Sorry, rant over.
KUTGW!
Much to agree with
He got slightly more than twice the votes than the dustbin. That’s not a ringing endorsement.
The point should strongly be made that Farage managed this weak a showing despite his main opposition not having had a full platform to express their views (a Binface Vs Farage live debate would have been fun), having the incumbent advantage, having the ability to spend significantly more, having a party apparatus to support him, and obviously the benefit of 5 million of our earth pounds.
I’m really hoping Binface sets up a ‘Refuse Party’ or ‘Recycle Party’s to look at the ‘Wheelie Big Problems’. Maybe with a Binny McBinface mascot.
🙂
I’m with Mike P 100% but would add that this country is still what was left after individuals like David Cameron, George Osbourne and Michael Gove (who are still at large) got into government.
If the age of enlightenment was made of memory, reason and imagination these Tories garrotted the remnants of that – having ran out of road with their Neo-liberal fantasies – resorting to nihilistic vandalism and far right tropes to stay in power at any cost which was continued through May and Johnson. The Tories played with fire for their own survival and WE are left paying the cost.
As much as I deplore the voters of Clacton I’m afraid I understand their **** You attitude to the whole thing.
The situation of this country is very simple to me. A whole load of money and commitments was stolen from the people by David Cameron’s government and it it still has not been put back, despite a change of government or leadership. And now to put it back, it’s going to cost more, isn’t it? People are justifiably angry in my view – all I differ with them about is who they are angry at.
And who is in power now? The remnants of a party that started it all in 2010 with a Post-it note saying ‘There is no money’! And their new leader politely asking people not to use throwaway barbecues (mustn’t hurt the markets must we?) as the country emolliates itself with its addiction to carbon, air travel and SUVs.
I’m running out of words to express my outrage to be honest. And after the words have gone, what it is left to use, can anyone tell me?