Nigel Farage speaks at a conference. Will the new Reform UK leader make any difference for the residents of Clacton?

Rose Morelli

“The last time I heard him [Farage] make reference to Clacton, he was saying he didn’t want to spend every Friday there,” Home Secretary James Cleverly commented to Sky News in early June. “Reform UK has always been a vehicle for Farage’s self-promotion.”

It’s true. Cleverly – a harbinger of rape jokes and anti-wokeism – probably doesn’t have the most honourable intentions with his comments. He’s likely more concerned with winning back votes from the juggernaut nationalist party Reform UK. But his comments do illustrate a true and concerning trend around the UK’s most incorrigible nationalist: Nigel Farage, bringer of Brexit and normaliser of racism, has a horrible habit of using poverty to sell his self-serving agenda.

His next target is Clacton-on-Sea: an area blighted by deprivation, nestled in the neglected shores of Essex. Home to Jaywick, the UK’s “most deprived area“, Clacton struggles against severe unemployment and crime. However, dubbed the “birthplace of Brexit“, the area is largely notable for its endorsement of the first and only elected UKIP MP. But while Clacton sits at the epicentre of the Brexit campaign, its economic needs are stark: it needs an MP whose focus is solely on the needs of its residents.

On June 3, Farage announced his candidacy as Clacton’s MP (a U-turn that took place just weeks after he denied any ambitions to launch his eighth bid as an MP). Insinuating the move to announce his leadership of Reform UK, he hinted that his ambitions span far beyond the area’s local needs. So, beyond a potential uptick in milkshake stands, will Farage’s presence in Clacton make any real difference to its besieged residents?

My guess is no – and I’ll bet a banana milkshake on that.

‘BIRTHPLACE OF BREXIT’

“Make no mistake: Clacton’s loyalties remain with Euroscepticism over the Conservatives.”

The story of Clacton-on-Sea is twofold. Alongside its history of Euroscepticism, the area has suffered from decades of deprivation. Within its borders lies Jaywick – a resort town in disrepair, repeatedly named the UK’s most deprived area. Visited by a United Nations poverty specialist in 2018, Jaywick comprised a large part of the UN’s verdict that social support cuts in the UK are “inflicting unnecessary misery”.

The statistics for Clacton depict a town besieged by neglect and inactivity. With a notably ageing population, an eye-watering 46.8 per cent of its residents are economically inactive. With almost a fifth of the town’s active revenue from seasonal seaside tourism, the area struggles against labels like Britain’s “worst” seaside town. There is also strong, unsatisfied demand for public services in the area. Alongside soaring crime and child poverty rates, the ageing population weighs heavily on diminished NHS and policing services. 

The area’s ageing demographic and economic struggle greatly indicate why it takes so kindly to nationalist and Eurosceptic ideals. In 2014, when then-Conservative Eurosceptic Douglas Carswell defected to UKIP, the area took his defection in their stride. In the by-election, he won 59.7 per cent of the area’s votes.

Then, in 2016, when Britons took to the polls to vote on our future as part of the European Union, Clacton-ites came out to vote in droves. With a 74.5 per cent turnout, almost 70 per cent of voters opted to leave the EU. Well above the national proportion of 52 per cent. It wasn’t until 2017 – when Carswell stood down as an MP and pledged his support to the Conservatives – that the polls bounced back from UKIP. But make no mistake: Clacton’s loyalties remain with Euroscepticism over the Conservatives. 

There’s no doubt that Farage can satisfy the Eurosceptic sentiments that run rife through Clacton. But is he equipped to deal with the area’s practical and economic issues?

THE FARAGE-REFORM CON

Farage, for all his flaws, is a good talker – as most con men often are. As a former stockbroker, the man has built his career around an ability to sell. He can command a room; if you’re already of an islander prejudice, he can elicit fear. His skill set is ideally suited to the campaign trail. But behind the desk, where is the real work done? Well, if his insolvent broking firm or appalling attendance record as an MEP is anything to go by… I wouldn’t hold your breath for any administrative prowess.

“If Farage’s only concern were ‘liberating’ Britain from the European Union, he would have happily retired in 2016.”

In its loose and rushed nature, the Brexit project was a match made in Heaven for Farage. Thanks to our First Past The Post voting system, it was deeply unlikely that Farage’s then-party UKIP would make any significant Parliamentary headway in the 2015 election. This put Farage in an ideal position for his skillset. He could command a wide following in the popular vote, which would only translate into one MP in Clacton claiming a seat. Not only would this play into Farage’s narrative of being excluded by Brussels-sympathetic elites, but it also meant he could act as a commentator rather than an administrator. This was enough to scare then-PM David Cameron into promising an EU referendum in his 2015 manifesto.

The “threat” of an oppressive European Union was a vague enough concept for any capable demagogue to project onto – and with an enormous humanitarian refugee crisis to boot? Combine that with a public feeling the sting of recession and austerity, and you have yourself a scapegoat. A lifelong eurosceptic, Farage was savvy enough to recognise a public besiege and play on then-PM David Cameron’s soft Euroscepticism. He manufactured a sense of kinship between himself and a public who felt excluded from privilege. Never mind his wealthy, private-schooled beginnings. He spun a compelling, beer-fuelled yarn of exclusion, pointing to Brussels and Cameron as an establishment that rejects but compels us all.

“it all hinges on these Clacton-ites and how they cast their vote on July 4.”

However, as with demagogues, the policy or goal was never the priority. If Farage’s only concern were ‘liberating’ Britain from the European Union, he would have happily retired in 2016. But here we are again in 2024, and Farage is still trying to spin his “man-of-the-people” agenda. This time, his spin stems from the new party Reform UK: a schematic carbon copy of UKIP. Reform UK’s platform is comprised of the same nationalistic, immigration-based scapegoating that defined UKIP. With very little true economic policy to gnaw on, their message relies on the unabashed racism of its representatives – and, just like UKIP, its ability to attract outspoken defectors like Lee Anderson. However – while anti-migrant messaging may appeal to the broadly white, ageing population of Clacton, does it actually serve them?

So, for what end is this a means for Farage? There’s already plenty of speculation, and basically, none of it lands on his deep care for the residents of Clacton. Either way, it all hinges on these Clacton-ites and how they cast their vote on July 4. Will this besieged constituency fall for the Farage-Reform con and launch the demagogue’s latest agenda? Or will they prioritise their well-being and prosperity over Nigel Farage’s? In the meantime, I’d urge them to watch Emily Maitlis confronting Farage and demanding an apology to the people of Clacton.

What did he say in response to Maitlis? “I don’t care.” Illuminating.

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Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Flickr. No changes have been made to this image. Image license found here.

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