How Nigel Farage masterminded stunning Clacton win thanks to Eminem & I’m a Celeb as he declares ‘this is end of Tories’
IT was a political insurgency plotted from a pokey office above Clacton’s Gaiety Amusement Arcade.
Handy for the local Spoons, the Reform UK HQ in the jaunty Essex resort is where Nigel Farage fomented a stunning electoral smash and grab.
Passing the slot machines and cuddly gonks, Mr Farage liked to board his armoured car for tours down the seafront with Eminem’s Without Me blaring out.
“Guess who’s back, back again?” go the lyrics.
For Farage – who supposedly retired from politics in 2016 after the Brexit vote – had initially said he wouldn’t stand in this general election.
Yet, like some evergreen end-of-the-pier act, he couldn’t resist the lure of the spotlight.
At his eighth attempt, the 60-year-old is finally a member of Parliament.
And his Reform attack dogs have helped savage a wounded Conservative Party across the nation.
Here in this Essex seaside resort he swept away a stonking 25,000 Tory majority – like a sandcastle disappearing at high tide – to win by more than 8,000 votes.
Reform now have an East Coast fiefdom, winning Boston and Skegness, Great Yarmouth as well as holding Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.
In a typically punchy acceptance speech Mr Farage told the nation it was “the first step of something that is going to stun all of you”.
Might Reform eventually become the new standard bearers for the right in British politics?
Or will twice married dad-of-four Mr Farage – once a Tory himself – return to revitalise his old party?
Collaring the cockahoop new MP at his constituency count at Clacton Leisure Centre, I asked him if he’d now like to lead the Tories.
With a rubber-jawed smirk, he insisted: “The Conservative Party? What a ghastly bunch they are.
“Join them? What a terrible idea.”
Yet after his stunning result he took deadly aim at the institution once considered the natural party of government.
“This is the end of the Conservative Party,” he brayed. “There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it.”
What is interesting is, there’s no enthusiasm for Labour, there’s no enthusiasm for Starmer whatsoever
Nigel Farage
And he also parked his tank on Labour’s lawn.
“We’re coming for Labour, be in no doubt about that,” he said as supporters at the count whooped with glee.
“What is interesting is, there’s no enthusiasm for Labour, there’s no enthusiasm for Starmer whatsoever.
“In fact, about half of the vote is simply an anti-Conservative vote.”
Wearing the light blue Reform rosette at the count, local councillor Peter Harris, 57, excitedly told me: “This is a historic moment for Clacton and our country.
“I was a Conservative member – but did I leave the party or did it me?
“I think it left me and millions of others.”
Why Clacton?
Clacton was one of Brexit’s most fertile breeding grounds. More than 70 per cent voted to quit the EU in 2016’s referendum.
Little wonder Mr Farage cherry-picked the constituency to break his Westminster duck.
His Eminem election theme tune for this election – which he uses like a boxer’s walk out song at rallies – offers a description of why he wanted to be an MP.
“Now this looks like a job for me,” the US rapper sings before adding: “Cuz we need a little controversy.”
Many in this faded seaside resort – which has lost out to cheap package deals in the Med – appear to agree.
I voted for Farage because he’s got a gob on him.
James Burns
He’s not frightened to have a row. We’re sick of people who get elected and then don’t speak up for the people
Security firm boss James Burns, 49, told me he backs Reform’s hardline stance on immigration.
“If you’re in a life boat and it holds 25 people and you say ‘let’s nudge up a bit and put 30 people in’ you wouldn’t then put 50 in because it will sink,” he said.
“The country’s going to sink if we keep loading it up. We’re only a small island.”
Like many in this resort town, James has drifted to live on the coast from London’s East End.
Wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan Careful Who You Trust! he told me: “You’ve seen Nigel stand up in the European Parliament and tell it how it is. That’s why I voted for him because he’s got a gob on him.
“He’s not frightened to have a row. We’re sick of people who get elected and then don’t speak up for the people.”
Divided opinions
Almost 80 miles north-east of London, Clacton has pockets of deprivation including Jaywick, the poorest neighbourhood in England.
Research for a local health programme showed half of all people over 16 in the town were economically inactive and one in five have never had a job.
Paul Robinson, 57, who mentors young people, believes Mr Farage has got his priorities wrong.
The dad-of-four said: “There’s no illegal immigrants in Clacton.
“He should be raising young people’s aspirations. Sadly we’ve got generations of people that have not be able to work.”
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Paul believes Mr Farage wil head for the US if his friend Donald Trump wins the presidential election there in November.
The Jaywick resident added: “I don’t think he’ll be around for long. First class jet or the A12 traffic problems, where would you be? I don’t think he’ll be good for Clacton.”
Rawa Ahmad, 32, who runs Baz Cut barbers, points to a string of successful small businesses in Clacton’s centre run by Turkish, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Cypriot and Iranian immigrants.
Rawa, who arrived in the UK from Iraqi Kurdistan 17 years ago, told me: “If we all left this street it would be dead.”
If we all left this street, it would be dead
Rawa Ahmad
The dad-of-two added: “Nigel Farage only focuses on foreigners, boats and migrants. This country is facing bigger problems.
“Rent, bills, everything’s tripled. It’s not because of migrants.
“Migrants don’t just come here and sit around doing nothing. I’ve been working pretty much every day since I got here.”
Iranian-born Hilda Boghosian, 56, had travelled to Clacton to canvas for Reform.
Arriving in Britain after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, she said: “I came here legally.
“Britain has accepted too many migrants in the past two years. Do we have extra GP surgeries? No. Do we have more hospitals? No.
“The country’s under strain. We need to slow down and put a freeze on immigration.
“I can see what is happening in this country. This is my home and I’m going to fight for it.”
Reform scandals
Mr Farage’s campaign in Clacton was rocked when an undercover investigation by Channel 4 News revealed Reform canvasser Andrew Parker calling former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a “f***ing p***.”
Mr Parker – who is an actor – also suggested migrants should be used as “target practice”.
While a Reform events organiser George Jones was secretly filmed labelling a Pride flag – displayed on a police car – as “f****** degenerate”.
The campaigner added: “They should be out catching nonces not promoting the f******.”
Mr Farage said the men were drunk after watching an England game and that both had been kicked out of Reform.
Reform alleged actor Mr Parker was “a plant” in the new piece but C4 stood by their reporting.
A Reform insider conceded to me that the scandal had cost the party several percentage points at the ballot box.
Nigel’s been in several times. He’s a nice bloke, very approachable, he’s met the kids
Adrian Brockwell
Mr Farage dragged the “fruitcakes” and “loonies” of Ukip from a fringe party to a political force which helped usher in Brexit.
Now he has pulled off another political sleight of hand by leading an awkward squad of Reform MPs into the Commons.
Parking his Audi white with a giant red St George Cross on it outside Reform’s Clacton HQ, Andrew Morgan, 57, said: “We’ve now got an MP now who will do what he says.”
Citing Brexit as a Farage achievement, the RAF veteran added: “He is someone who supports Britain, supports positive things about our country.”
The beer garden of the Three Jays pub in Jaywick is festooned with giant Reform placards reading “Let’s Save Britain.”
Landlord Adrian Brockwell, 46, told me: “Nigel’s been in several times. He’s a nice bloke, very approachable, he’s met the kids.”
The dad-of-three added: “We need change. The Conservatives and Labour have had their day.”
The pub boss wants Reform to replace the Tories as Britain’s party of the right, “Hopefully by 2029”.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said that’s not inconceivable.
“There will be some Conservatives who believe that the future lies in uniting the right, and maybe even welcoming him into the party,” Professor Bale said.
“There will obviously be some Conservatives who would see that as anathema and will do everything they can to stop that happening.”
Mr Farage has been courting the youth vote.
His third place on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! last year helped him reach a new audience. He now has over 810,000 followers on TikTok and has had 14 million likes.
Restaurant manager Vicki Hart, 24, believes Reform can replace the Conservatives as the main party on the right.
“I’m hoping he will change Clacton, bring more job opportunities and make Clacton a better place for everyone,” she said.
Will the renegade bad boy of Brexit may now settle down to a more mundane and quiet life as a back bench constituency MP?
As the Eminem song suggests, Mr Farage may crave “controversy” too much.