An election is due to take place in the Essex constituency of Clacton on 4 July 2024, as part of the 2024 United Kingdom general election. Nigel Farage, the newly re-appointed leader of Reform UK and the former leader of the UK Independence Party, announced his intention to stand for election in the constituency.[1] As "rabble-rousing architect of Brexit and figurehead of the country’s populist right", Farage brought Clacton to international attention.[2][3]
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Background
editIn May 2023 Clacton's Conservative MP, Giles Watling, was reselected in a vote by local party members to become Conservative candidate for the 2024 general election, despite the local executive voting to not automatically select him.[4]
Nigel Farage had previously been leader of UKIP and the Brexit Party and there had been speculation about what sort of role he would perform in the 2024 UK general election. At a news conference on 3 June 2024, Farage announced both his intention to become leader of Reform UK and his candidature for the party in the Clacton constituency.[1][5] This was Farage's eighth attempt to be elected to the House of Commons.[6] Immediately prior to Farage's announcement, Reform UK had been predicted to win no MPs in the 2024 election.[5]
Clacton had been won by UKIP's Douglas Carswell in 2014, but was more recently held by the Conservative Party's Giles Watling, who had not been a supporter of Brexit. Watling was standing for re-election for the Conservatives in the constituency, defending the majority of almost 25,000 he'd had at the previous election.[1]
Former tax driver, Tony Mack, had been selected in October 2023 as the Reform candidate for Clacton. He stood aside after promises from Farage to compensate him for his costs and give him a paid job if Farage won the election. Within days Mack said he felt "ostracised" and, on 8 June, announced he would stand in the election as an independent candidate.[7]
Labour's candidate was Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, a trade unionist and policy officer for the all-party parliamentary group for reuniting Britain post-Brexit.[8]
The Green Party candidate, Natasha Osben, had previously stood in Clacton for the Labour Party but had left in 2019 and believed the Greens were "the only party that is genuinely committed" to bringing about change.[8]
Local businessman and councillor, Matthew Bensilum, was standing for the Liberal Democrats.[8]
Former member of Reform and the Conservative Party, Tasos Papanastasiou, stood in the election for the Heritage Party, citing disagreements about vaccine roll-outs and peace efforts in the Middle East.[9]
CNN described Clacton as "the front line of Britain’s migration debate".[2]
Campaign
editOn his first day of campaigning in Clacton-on-Sea, Farage had a banana milkshake thrown over him by a member of the crowd. A 25-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault. Farage appeared to make a joke about the incident later in the day, when he appeared in front of the media in the village of Jaywick with a tray of milkshakes.[6]
On 19 June Anit-Brexit group, Best for Britain, argued that Labour were in the best position to stop Reform winning the constituency, as an Electoral Calculus poll showed Labour had jumped above the Conservatives into second place in the race.[10] On 27 June it was reported that the Labour Party had ordered their candidate, Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, to leave Clacton and help the party campaign in the West Midlands instead. Owusu-Nepaul had built a reputation on social media of being "the best dressed candidate in living memory" and it was believed Labour were cross that he was getting more attention than the Labour leader, Sir Kier Starmer.[11] Starmer denied Labour had given up in Clacton.[12]
Also on 27 June, an undercover Channel 4 journalist secretly recorded members of Farage's campaign team using offensive racial, islamaphobic and homophobic language, also suggesting refugees should be used as "target practice".[13] Farage responded by saying "In most cases they're just speaking like ordinary folk", while Reform chairman Richard Tice said that racist comments were "innappropriate".[13]
Opinion polling
edit| Dates conducted |
Pollster | Client | Sample size |
Con | Lab | Lib Dems | Green | Reform | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10–19 June 2024 | JL Partners | Friederichs Advisory Partners | 502 | 21% | 18% | 6% | 6% | 48% | 1% | 27 |
| 11–13 June 2024 | Survation | Arron Banks | 506 | 27% | 24% | 2% | 5% | 42% | 1% | 15 |
| 9–12 Jan 2024 | Survation[a] | Arron Banks | 509 | 38% | 30% | 6% | – | 18% | 9% | 8 |
| 27% | 23% | 6% | – | 37%[b] | 8% | 10 | ||||
| 12 Dec 2019 | 2019 general election[c] | – | 71.9% | 15.6% | 6.2% | 2.9% | – | 3.4% | 56.3 | |
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Matthew Bensilum | ||||
| Reform UK | Nigel Farage | ||||
| Climate | Craig Jamieson | ||||
| Independent | Tony Mack | ||||
| Green | Natasha Osben | ||||
| Labour | Jovan Owusu-Nepaul | ||||
| Heritage | Tasos Papanastasiou | ||||
| UKIP | Andrew Pemberton | ||||
| Conservative | Giles Watling | ||||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ Poll conducted based on the previous boundaries for this constituency, not the boundaries used at the general election
- ^ Nigel Farage as candidate
- ^ Notional result[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c Scott, Jennifer (4 June 2024). "Nigel Farage confirms he will stand for Clacton seat in general election". Sky News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b Picheta, Rob (17 June 2024). "A US-style migration debate is taking over Britain's election - with a Trump acolyte leading the charge". CNN. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Safdar, Anealla (25 June 2024). "'Britain's on its knees': The broken UK town backing Nigel Farage". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Dedman, Simon (12 May 2023). "Clacton: Conservative MP Giles Watling re-selected as candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b Belam, Martin; Quinn, Ben (3 June 2024). "Nigel Farage to stand in Clacton at general election after taking over as leader of Reform party – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b Quinn, Ben (4 June 2024). "Woman throws milkshake over Nigel Farage on first day of campaigning". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Schofield, Ben (27 June 2024). "Party broke Farage's promise to repay expenses – ex-Reform candidate". BBC News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Holl-Allen, Genevieve (4 June 2024). "The Clacton candidates standing in Nigel Farage's way". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Penny, Brandon (28 June 2024). "Heritage Party Tasos Papanastasiou: 'Why I should be next Clacton MP'". Clacton and Frinton Gazette. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Maddox, David (19 June 2024). "Labour in position to stop Farage becoming an MP, campaign group confirms after collapse in Tory vote". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ Mitchell, Archie (27 June 2024). "Has Labour given up fighting Nigel Farage in Clacton? Candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul 'sent to West Midlands'". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Starmer denies Labour has given up on Clacton". Jersey Evening Post. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ a b McKiernan, Jennifer; Francis, Sam (27 June 2024). "Reform UK campaigners caught making racist slurs". BBC News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- ^ "Results spreadsheet (download)". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations" (PDF). Tendring District Council. Retrieved 9 June 2024.