The city on the east coast of southern England forms Farage’s constituency. If he wins in Clacton-on-Sea in Thursday’s British parliamentary election, the migration critic Farage will have a seat in the House of Commons in the London Parliament.
It is no wonder that Farage chose to represent this particular poor constituency. Here, 70 percent voted for Brexit, and in the battered city with very low economic activity, there is fertile ground for the populism that Farage represents. The stately pier looks worn.
In the closing stages before the election, the TV4 News team sees both elderly people in gambling halls and activists from other parts of the country talking politics with passers-by.
Grass roots movement
When Nigel Farage took off his boxing gloves in front of the press corps, he said that the Reform Party had become a grassroots movement during the election campaign. The question from our team was whether it is actually the election in five years’ time that is Farage’s real benchmark. The electoral system means that Reform UK can hardly count on more than perhaps 5-20 of the 650 parliamentary seats in this election.
Farage stated that the Brexit movement, in which he himself was a central figure, also became a grassroots movement. Clearly, Farage sees this general election and the expected collapse of the Conservatives as a springboard to something new in British politics far to the right.
Several scandals in the bag
But in the final stages, the party has been rocked by several scandals where party members expressed themselves racistly and were forced to leave the political scene. At least two Reform politicians have declared that racism in the party caused them to switch parties – to the conservatives.
But voters in Clacton-on-Sea don’t seem badly affected. They believe that the party is not racist and that everything is exaggerated.
When the votes are tallied, it will be interesting to see if these scandals had any significance or if the voters looked the other way.