Could Clacton bin off Nigel Farage?

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Today in Focus (The Guardian)
Episode: Could Clacton bin off Nigel Farage?
Host: Nosheen Iqbal
Date: August 12, 2026

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Overview

This episode explores the political and social dynamics in Clacton, a coastal English town where Nigel Farage, after finally winning his first parliamentary seat in 2024, is forcing a by-election amid a scandal involving undeclared gifts. Host Nosheen Iqbal investigates whether Farage's hold on Clacton is unshakeable, delving into the town’s unique demographics, its economic and health struggles, and the extraordinary field of 33 (!) candidates now vying for the seat. The episode combines on-the-ground reporting, interviews with locals and candidates, and critical analysis of Farage’s impact on Clacton.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Clacton's Contradictions

• Location and Atmosphere
  • Clacton High Street: lively yet rundown; once a "seaside jewel" now facing major decline ([00:00]).
  • Deep economic, health and social issues: "one of the poorest, oldest and whitest places in the UK" where life expectancy is 18 years lower than parts of Essex ([00:40]).
• Farage’s Political Gamble
  • Farage's seat tainted by controversy over an undeclared £5 million gift, prompting his resignation and a by-election ([02:03]).
  • Main parties are boycotting the contest, leaving Farage against a record-breaking field of 33 candidates.
  • The ballot is “three feet long” featuring a mix including the Monster Raving Loony Party and “Count Binface,” satirical and serious rivals alike ([02:43]).

2. The Town’s History & Changing Fate

• From Seaside Dream to Social Struggles
  • Neil Stock (longtime local Conservative councillor): Clacton once was an "upmarket destination" and Butlins holiday camp was “big for business” ([04:41], [05:33]).
  • Economic decline visible: grand hotels now mostly sad bedsits ([05:47]).
  • Neighboring towns depict the “postcode lottery” of deprivation—Jaywick, often cited as England’s poorest area, now infamous online ([06:40]).

3. Voter Attitudes: Loyalty, Disillusionment and Protest

• Anti-Establishment Streak

  • Stock: Clacton is “very independently minded”—many voters see themselves as “sticking two fingers up to the establishment” ([07:45]).
  • People don’t expect improvement from any government: “they don’t really feel like they’ve got anything to lose” by voting for Farage or protest candidates ([08:28]).

• Impact of Social Circumstances

  • Demographic issues: high numbers of single, middle-aged men living in converted bedsits with health and social risks ([09:00]).
  • Key concerns: deteriorating town center, outmoded infrastructure, lack of investment and jobs ([09:47], [10:08]).

4. Farage’s By-election: Circus or Statement?

• Community Reaction to Main Parties' Boycott

  • Some locals call the by-election a “circus” and “an insult,” feeling let down by the absence of mainstream candidates ([03:08], [13:04]).
  • Vast majority of candidates are not local; only one, Nick Pellas, lives in Clacton ([12:54]).

• Local Identity and “Parachute” Candidates

  • Resentment towards outsiders: “lots of people we speak to aren’t impressed with outsiders coming in to try and represent them” ([13:43]).
  • Candidates claim to be “making the effort” but connection remains thin.

5. Polarization & Prejudice: The Elephant in the Room

• Anger and Suspicion

  • Residents and candidates voice a mix of disillusionment, anger and, at times, openly racist views ([18:01] onwards).
  • Notable quote:
    • "He was right, Enoch Powell." – Local Resident, expressing support for notorious anti-immigrant politician ([18:01]).
    • “We’ve got enough trouble of our own with our own. We’ve got enough bad to import even more trouble.” ([19:32]).

• Media and Echo Chambers

  • Many cite YouTube and TalkTV as news sources, showing skepticism toward mainstream media ([18:57]).

• Host Challenges Prejudices

  • Nosheen Iqbal pushes back on racist and Islamophobic comments, highlighting contradictions and calling out lack of factual basis ([20:11]–[20:41]).

6. The ‘Farage Effect’: Charisma Over Delivery?

• Presence Versus Outcomes
  • Mixed views: some cite Farage as a “people person” who "talks to everyone" ([15:55], [16:15]), others are critical of his absentee record ([15:26]).
  • "He does seem to be getting things done… he’s worked with the council… but I think it’s hard for him because he’s… leader of a party." – Retiree couple at Clacton Pier ([16:15]).
• Scandals and Low Trust
  • General cynicism: “They’re all corrupt. ... It's just the way it is” ([17:00]).

7. Culture Wars & Far Right Normalization

• Far Right Candidate Makes Pitch
  • At an election event, a 22-year-old is applauded for a "pro-remigration" agenda reminiscent of extreme right rhetoric ([21:25]).
  • The normalization of such language is taken as a warning sign.

8. What Has Farage Actually Done?

• Local and Journalistic Assessment
  • Daniel Rees (Colchester Gazette): Farage’s only concrete achievement is “bringing attention” to Clacton ([28:07]).
  • Farage himself admits limited impact: “I’m only one MP and we cannot do a huge amount with only a handful of MPs” ([28:31]).
• Unshakeable Loyalty
  • People do not care about lack of tangible results: “people he has won over are going to be really difficult for the other parties to prise from Reform… it’s like setting concrete” ([29:01]).

9. Reality & Myths: Crime, Immigration, and Perceptions

• Crime, Immigration, and Local Data
  • Daniel Rees: “I see people from all walks of society before magistrates… I couldn’t tell you how few ethnic minorities from Clacton have come before the criminal justice system” ([26:29]).
  • Clacton is “not a diverse town” but fear about immigration remains high ([27:53]).

10. Memorable or Notable Quotes

• "They're wasting all this government money... to re-elect somebody who we really shouldn't have as an MP." – Daniel Rees ([02:25])
• "Clacton is sticking two fingers up to the establishment... We just don't care about Westminster." – Neil Stock ([07:45])
• “He was right, Enoch Powell.” – Local Resident ([18:01])
• “If you watch the right news and the right news.” – Local Resident highlighting echo-chamber thinking ([18:45])
• "Ask any Clacton person. That is normally the answer." – on support for Farage ([17:54])
• “People he has won over are going to be really difficult for the other parties to prise from Reform.” – Daniel Rees ([29:01])

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00-02:00 – Clacton’s social and economic status; Farage instigates by-election
• 04:14-06:08 – Neil Stock discusses Clacton's historical trajectory
• 07:45-08:28 – The town’s independent, anti-establishment voting patterns
• 13:04-13:58 – Local response to the “circus” of the current by-election
• 15:26-16:48 – Divided opinions of Farage’s presence and effectiveness
• 18:01-20:41 – Racism, immigration, and normalization of far-right talking points
• 21:25 – Far Right candidate gets biggest applause at a debate
• 24:28-27:53 – Daniel Rees assesses Clacton’s reputation and reality behind crime and immigration
• 28:07-29:40 – Farage’s record/achievements queried and the paradoxical loyalty he enjoys locally

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Tone and Takeaways

• The tone is openly inquisitive, sometimes incredulous, and at times confrontational, especially when addressing racism and misinformation among Clacton voters.
• The episode is a mix of dry humor, on-the-ground texture and raw testimonies, conveying frustration, ennui, and polarization in the community.
• Clacton’s support for Farage is painted as deeply rooted in anti-establishment sentiment rather than positive engagement with his policies or measurable improvement in public services.
• The by-election is seen by locals as either a meaningless circus or a defiant middle finger to British political norms, while the mainstream parties’ absence is viewed as abandonment.
• Perhaps most worryingly, misinformation around immigration and crime—despite being out of step with local realities—continues to shape voter passion and Farage’s resilience.

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For Listeners

This episode uncovers how an ailing seaside town became the unlikely stronghold for one of Britain’s most divisive political figures—and how deep divides, disillusionment, and cultural anxieties anchor electoral outcomes, even amid scandal and stasis. For anyone seeking insight into the populist currents shaping British politics, Clacton’s story is both a warning and a window into the nation’s future.

Transcript

[Noshi Nikbal]

This is the Guardian. Today, could Clacton bin off Nigel Farage? A warning before we start this episode contains extreme and offensive views. So we're here on Clacton High Street. Butcher, charity shop, post office savers. Sort of the usual motley crue of an English high street. Mid morning in August. It's pretty lively. Looking out across the golden sandy beach, backed by a promenade with ornamental gardens and a pier heaving with rides and restaurants. You can see see why Clacton was once a seaside jewel on England's east coast. But these days there's another story that's told about this town. Clacton is one of the poorest, oldest and whitest places in the UK. People here face a life expectancy that is 18 years lower than those living in wealthier parts of Essex. Blood pressure is chronically high. More people suffer from it here proportionally than anywhere else in England. Asthma, chronic kidney disease and diabetes are more common than in most places. Clacton is home to around 53,000 residents, but almost half the working age population don't have a job. One in five have never had one. It's here in 2024 that Nigel Farage finally won a seat in Houses of Parliament. Eighth time lucky. And it's here where he's forcing his ninth go.

[Neil Stock]

I've thought about it hard and I've decided today, today I will resign as a Member of Parliament for Clacton on Sea, thereby forcing a by election, which

[Daniel Rees]

should happen, I hope, in short order.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Farage says he's protesting against the scrutiny into his financial affairs, an undeclared 5 million pound gift, for example, and that the people of Clacton should decide whether he's still fit to serve. And what do you make of this by election being called?

[Michael O'Keefe]

I think it's an absolute farce.

[Noshi Nikbal]

I think it's like a circus, to

[Independent Candidate]

be honest with you.

[Neil Stock]

I think it's an absolute shambles and

[Daniel Rees]

I think it's ridiculous that they're wasting

[Noshi Nikbal]

all this government money, all this public money, on a by election that we

[Neil Stock]

don't need to be having to re

[Noshi Nikbal]

elect somebody who we really shouldn't have as an mp.

[Neil Stock]

It does feel like a deflection by Farage to try and take the focus off the fact that he's taken large amounts of money off people that he

[Noshi Nikbal]

probably shouldn't have done. The main parties are boycotting this contest and so instead Farage is going up against a record breaking 33 candidates. The ballot paper is three feet long and his biggest rival, Count Bimface, to

[Daniel Rees]

Help improve schools, hospitals, businesses, arcade grabber machines, pub toilet, hand dryer locations and

[Independent Candidate]

other things that humans vote for.

[Noshi Nikbal]

The intergalactic space warrior from Sigma 9.

[Local Critic of Farage]

I think he seems so much more down to earth and a bit more like he's got more idea of what's happening here.

[Noshi Nikbal]

If only the whole thing was a joke.

[Local Resident]

Why would you vote for someone with a pin on their head?

[Noshi Nikbal]

From the Guardian, I'm Noshi Nikbal. Today in focus, Nigel Farage's political gamble with Clacton. I get to Clacton with our producer Iver. Around 11 o' clock, we head to the town square, which is actually more of a triangle. It's got amusement arcades running down one end and banks, betting shops and the McDonald's on the other. A street preacher is promising salvation to passersby. Hello, Neil, it's good to see you again.

[Neil Stock]

Good to see you again.

[Noshi Nikbal]

I've arranged to meet Neil Stock, who served as a local Conservative councillor for more than 20 years and was awarded an OBE for his effort. I last interviewed him during the COVID pandemic. Back then he was leader of the local council tendering district. Neil, how would you describe the character of Clacton?

[Neil Stock]

Yeah, Clacton, like many other seaside towns, had quite a glorious past.

[Independent Candidate]

It's the beach, there's miles out, all real sand and it's ideal for everybody.

[Neil Stock]

So if you look at a brochure from the 1930s that's promoting Clacton, you see these fantastic looking hotels, fantastic gardens, fantastic guest houses where you could come and spend your holiday over four miles

[Independent Candidate]

of some of the finest seaside in the country.

[Neil Stock]

And it was clearly quite an upmarket destination back then. People weren't flying aboard for their holidays, were clearly coming to Clacton and places like it and spending a lot of money. And indeed, that's how Clacton was created as a seaside resort. It's only about 130 years old or something like that. It's actually created from practically nothing. The railway line was, was brought here.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Long standing Butlins heritage, am I right?

[Neil Stock]

Oh, yeah, and then the Butlins, of course.

[Independent Candidate]

And although Carnival 2 is a very make believe affair and the mood may be light as air, it starts with the hard work they're putting in at this Clacton holiday camp.

[Neil Stock]

It was, I mean, the Butlins thing, people sort of scoff and say that was a bit low rent, but it was big for business, lots of, you know, for the local economy. It was fantastic having a Butlins here.

[Independent Candidate]

This is the day of beauty queens. And princesses for anyone who likes to look good in a swimsuit.

[Neil Stock]

Loads of people worked there. If you were still at school, you could get a job there part time on a Saturday. And those who came here for holidays, obviously, and fell in love with Clacton. But now those same fantastic hotels and guest houses, they're still here, but lots of them are bedsits and looking rather sad. And there is quite a lot of that, I'm afraid, as there is, depressingly in lots of seaside towns.

[Noshi Nikbal]

The Clacton parliamentary constituency includes several coastal towns and villages. Clacton town itself, where I'm speaking to Neil, is the most known. And seven miles to the northeast, there's Frinton.

[Neil Stock]

Frinton on sea used to be, certainly before the war and even during the war, very, very upmarket. Connaught Avenue, the main shopping road in Frinton, was known as the Bond street of East Anglia. You had, you know, Churchill used to have his cabinet meet there sometimes and very wealthy people had houses there, some fantastic properties.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Down the coast from Frinton is Jwick, which is routinely described as the most deprived neighborhood in the country. It's where a UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty reported a crisis in 2019 and where Channel 5 set its series Benefits by the Sea. More recently. You might have seen it popping up on your feeds as YouTubers compete to make content. I spent a day in England's poorest town, alone inside England's worst slum, that sort of thing.

[Neil Stock]

And the people who live there are utterly sick and tired of this, because they like living in Jwick. There's a very high percentage of outright home ownership in Jwick, as there is across Clacton. The same Englishman's home is his castle, and that's kind of writ large a little bit in Clacton. I think it's like, you may not like Clacton, other people might not like Clacton, but the people who live here, they actually like it. And, you know, everyone else can get stuffed kind of thing. So they're very independently minded, I think. I think that's demonstrated, isn't it, by the fact that Nigel Farage won here. The only time he's actually been successful in the parliamentary election. He has tried a lot of times. UKIP were extremely successful in the local government elections a few years before that. And then obviously they've sort of morphed into the Reform UK party. And a lot of it is sort of sticking two fingers up to the establishment saying, we just don't care about Westminster, we're just not Interested in what's going on there. It's not relevant to us, not relevant to our lives.

[Noshi Nikbal]

It's getting noisy and people are giving us the side eye. So we head to a cafe. At the doorway, a customer with a Union Jack tattoo sitting outside points to me and says, you're bard. I'm not sure if it's a joke, but we go in. Neil, you've given me a good political history of Clacton, but can you tell me why you think it is people here vote the way they do?

[Neil Stock]

I think a lot of it just comes down to the fact that people here don't really feel they've got anything to lose by voting for reform. They're not really necessarily voting for it. They're kind of voting against all the others. I think one of the reasons is that, you know, you sort of said that they're not necessarily better off and would a reform government be able to make them better off? But I think a lot of people don't make decisions, electoral ones, voting ones, based on whether they think they're going to be better off financially.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Neil has a lot of opinions on why Clacton is run down. He comes back to the hotels now converted into bedsits, where you've got lots

[Neil Stock]

of single men in their sort of in their mid-40s, who, and this is a bit of a sexist thing to say anyway, but a lot of men don't go and see the doctor enough unless they've got a woman bullying them to do it. Don't ask me why that is, but it is a fact.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Are you saying that a lot of, like, divorced dads are.

[Neil Stock]

Yeah, exactly that. And they're not going to. They're not going to doctor when they've got something wrong, they're drinking too much, they're eating awful food from one of the many takeaways, they're not cooking for themselves, they're not looking after themselves. And lots of landlords will talk about, go around to see a tenant who hasn't paid the rent that week and struggling to open the door because there's a body behind it.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Neil, what matters? I mean, you worked in local, local politics for over two decades. What did you find? Came up time and time again? What matters most to voters here, I think.

[Neil Stock]

I mean, like, you've only got. We've been walking around the town centre and it looks a little bit dated and a little bit scruffy and I'm probably being polite when I say a little bit. Although these days, to be fair, almost every town centre in the country looks quite similar. They've all caught up with Clacton.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Yeah, but it's not just the high street, is it? What else do people care about? What would you see as the town's main problems?

[Neil Stock]

Well, I would say they're quite large infrastructure related problems. If you could build a super fast dual carriageway all the way to the centre of Clacton, you would, you would change Clacton over. I mean, some people might say it wouldn't be for the better, but I can guarantee that rather than going to Southold for the weekend, people would be flocking up from the better parts of London for their holiday home. Rightly, wrongly. This is sort of gentrification I'm talking about. I'm not necessarily saying it's.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Eventually we, we get to the by election. If Farage wins, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner will carry on investigating whether he broke the rules over his undeclared £5 million gift, the one from the Thailand based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Depending on what they find, there's a world in which Clacton could face another by election. I don't want to suggest that it's a foregone conclusion, but it does seem that Farage is going to win. How do you feel about the prospect of another by election in probably could be two to three months?

[Neil Stock]

Well, I'm happy to predict or preempt the fact that he is very likely to win. However, whether there's another by election because his, you know, the standards inquiry against him, I don't know what the outcome of that's going to be. But if there is another by election, I think things could be different actually. Whether Nigel Farage is some sort of cunning political strategist and that he thinks that by holding this first one it will secure people to get used to voting for him. I don't know. I don't think he's that cute, to be honest. And I think he may regret his decision to have stood in this totally unnecessary by election. If there's another by election here in the next few months and you get a good local candidate with who knows the constituency and it's known by the constituent at least a little bit, and the track record is delivering stuff in the constituency, then who knows?

[Noshi Nikbal]

For now, the people of Clacton have been presented with a long list of contenders who have jumped on the opportunity to have a go. It costs 500 pounds to put down a deposit to stand as an MP Labour concern. The Lib Dems Green and Restore have called it a circus A stunt and a distraction from, I quote, Faraj's fishy finances. So Instead, there are three members of the Monster Raving Loony Party standing 20 independents, actor turned anti Islam activist Lawrence Fox, and a party called Everyone Is God. There's at least one far right nationalist, there's a teenager and There's a carpenter. 28 of the 34 are men. As far as I can tell. Only one, Nick Pellas, is a local and lives in Clacton.

[Local Resident]

There's a lot of choice.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Historic amount of choice.

[Local Resident]

Yeah, I think over 30, 30, 34.

[Noshi Nikbal]

What are your thoughts on the fact that the other main parties aren't standing in this by election?

[Michael O'Keefe]

I think it's an insult to the people of Clacton and I think all these people that are standing are an insult to Clapton as well.

[Noshi Nikbal]

A couple of candidates are milling about the town square. So Michael o', Keefe, independent. We meet Michael, who is passionate about being a voice for local people.

[Independent Candidate]

There are people who want a local

[Neil Stock]

mp, somebody who will do something for

[Independent Candidate]

them locally, and then they're the other people who.

[Neil Stock]

Who are voting because they're doing something for Britain.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Do you live in Clacton?

[Local Resident]

No, I don't.

[Neil Stock]

I live in Lincolnshire.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay, so slight disconnect because lots of people we speak to aren't impressed with outsiders coming in to try and represent them. So we listen to what the candidates have to say about it.

[Independent Candidate]

If the question you're asking me is, have you lived here before, as most other candidates? No, I haven't. I'm willing to be transparent. Right. However, I have made an effort to be here consistently, more than any other candidate. July 7th, evening. Farage announces his resignation. July 9th, morning. I'm already in Clacton full time and I've been here continuously, pretty much uninterruptedly.

[Local Resident]

I've spent.

[Noshi Nikbal]

I spent some time here.

[Local Resident]

I'm staying here now temporarily.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And people here have been very loving.

[Local Resident]

Some of them have been very welcoming

[Noshi Nikbal]

and, you know, I believe that you love your neighbors. In the town square, the benches have been taken over by street drinkers. One of them is topless and swaying to Bob Marley. A group of teenagers are messing about. One of them runs over to me with a can of something to spray me. I turn my head slightly, startled. It's Silly string. We walk some more around Clacton Finch. Jonas from the Guardian making an episode about the by election. Would you be interested in talking?

[Michael O'Keefe]

No.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Lots of people don't want to speak to us. No, but no, some are more hostile than others. There's a lot of support for Nigel Farage. He's not for everyone, but he does get people talking.

[Neil Stock]

No, he's rubbish.

[Independent Candidate]

He's absolutely rubbish.

[Noshi Nikbal]

I mean, they don't hold surgeries. He's never even attended any of the local council meetings about improvements to the town.

[Local Critic of Farage]

I think someone that actually turned up would be a good start. I think his voting record's 29%. I mean, that's hideous. He's supposed to represent the people of Clacton and Frinton, so. So actually turning up to vote in the Houses of Parliament and representing us would be a good start.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And what is it, I guess, that you like about Fragile? That you find that, you know, he does represent the interests of people and he's a good person.

[Local Resident]

He stops and talks to everyone.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay.

[Local Resident]

He does stop and talk and he does seem to be getting things done. We've had some issues along here with the steps being overgrown and he's worked with the local council to get them all sorted. Down towards Walton.

[Noshi Nikbal]

At Clacton Pier, we meet a couple at a picnic table. They moved to the town to enjoy their retirement.

[Michael O'Keefe]

It's a people person. He can talk to anybody. Yeah. And he integrates with people. I think most of the others tend to talk down to you and tell you what's right for your area.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But you don't mind the fact that he's not from here either.

[Michael O'Keefe]

No, but he has got a property up the road here, you know, so. And he's seen about quite a bit.

[Noshi Nikbal]

So you think. Do you think he's been a good and present mp?

[Michael O'Keefe]

Well, no, but I think it's hard for him because he's also the leader of a party.

[Independent Candidate]

So he's all over the country. So, you know.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay. Are you bothered by any of the scandals that are dogging him at the moment? The reason as to why he, you know, reportedly called this by election was the.

[Michael O'Keefe]

I'm not worried about the money. It doesn't bother me at all because I think they're all corrupt. Right.

[Independent Candidate]

And we know they will. We know they've all got their noses in the trough. We know that and we have to accept it. It's just the way it is.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Do you think we have to accept that in democracy?

[Independent Candidate]

It just seems to be the norm.

[Michael O'Keefe]

I don't think we should.

[Independent Candidate]

We don't. I don't agree with it, but I

[Michael O'Keefe]

don't think there is any democracy in the UK anymore.

[Independent Candidate]

I don't think he has broke the rules personally.

[Michael O'Keefe]

They all take back air.

[Independent Candidate]

So we all know that bothers us in the slightest about Farage getting that money. Because we know.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Good luck. I wish someone had given me 4 million, you know, 5 million.

[Noshi Nikbal]

As we're chatting, a man with a navy hat asks us to make room for a train turning around. That's me about the way for the little train. It's the choo choo tourist kind that rolls up and down the pond.

[Local Critic of Farage]

Thank you.

[Local Resident]

Thank you.

[Noshi Nikbal]

He butts in to tell us he's voting for Farage.

[Independent Candidate]

There you go, There you go.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Ask any Clapton person. That is normally the answer.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Conversation takes a turn.

[Neil Stock]

He was right, Enoch pal.

[Independent Candidate]

Yeah, we know that, brother.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Yeah, he weren't prejudiced. He was just saying, what you going

[Local Resident]

to do if we don't do this?

[Independent Candidate]

No one wanted to listen. No, no one wanted to listen.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Back to that. That's interesting. So that's really come back in a big way. Enoch Powell was right.

[Independent Candidate]

Yeah, yeah. We knew all along definitely I was a bus driver in London. So since for the last 45 years, I was driving in London in the 70s and continues since then. And I've seen it happen. I see it every day, every week I saw it. And I used to come home and say to you, didn't I? Yeah, you know, we've seen it. The change in the. The migration and the state of London. The way it's gone down a lady step. Four men in London with a pair of scissors. Covent Garden.

[Michael O'Keefe]

In Covent Garden, homeless woman in cut

[Independent Candidate]

the area set to land in Trafalgar. So where it's all on the television. You can see it if you watch the right news and the right news.

[Local Resident]

That's interesting.

[Local Critic of Farage]

Where do you get your news? Where did you get your news?

[Independent Candidate]

YouTube.

[Michael O'Keefe]

YouTube.

[Independent Candidate]

Talk TV.

[Michael O'Keefe]

YouTube. I never read a newspaper.

[Independent Candidate]

Apparently she was a homeless lady. That's all I know.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But is there anything. But what does that have to do with migration or Enoch Powell is what I'm asking.

[Michael O'Keefe]

It's just the rise in migration.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Yeah, but I mean clacton is like 96 white. I'm not saying I'm not associating crime with migrants or people of color, but is. Is that your fear that the more non white people there are, the higher the crime is?

[Independent Candidate]

Definitely what it is. Is. We've got enough trouble of our own with our own. We've got enough bad to import even more trouble. The white English.

[Local Resident]

English.

[Independent Candidate]

We know there's bad people and black English.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Do you know what I mean? And we've got enough. We don't need to import a load More grief.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But migration has halved in the last year. Literally the numbers have gone massively down.

[Michael O'Keefe]

And it's people that don't integrate. I mean most of the people that come here do integrate. You know, the blacks integrated over the years. There was no issues with the blacks.

[Noshi Nikbal]

You know, so is it.

[Michael O'Keefe]

And they try and make it's Islam, Islamophobia, which is not even a word. It's amazing. I mean you've said it, you know, it's a made up word. But they do not integrate.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But I'm Muslim.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Yeah, but they don't integrate.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But am I not integrated?

[Michael O'Keefe]

Yeah, you're integrating with me now. But most of the time they just keep to themselves.

[Noshi Nikbal]

It's not the most contradictory or extreme thing we hear that afternoon. People we speak to are often angry, fed up and scared. They're losing out. For Farage followers, immigration is really high on their list of concerns. To understand the local picture more, we head to another election event. This one is held in the town hall and features 12 of the candidates running sat on a stage in a Victorian theatre with dozens of red padded ballroom chairs for an audience of about 30. Here, a 22 year old makes his pitch to be an MP to an audience he assumes will be receptive to normalizing his far right views.

[Daniel Rees]

So what sets me aside from the other anti immigration Kansas is that I am pro remigration, which means reversing demographic change. If native Brits do become a minority in this country, all of our democratic power will be lost and this country will, this country will entirely begin to reflect the third world ghetto that is London.

[Neil Stock]

That is all. Thank you.

[Noshi Nikbal]

He gets the biggest appointment applause of anyone there. Coming up, what has Nigel Farage actually done for Clacton? At the fish and chip shop, a man, six foot plus and in leathers on a motorcycle parks up opposite us. He walks over wordlessly and puts three leaflets down on our table. I've just been handed a leaflet. Very surreptitiously. He gives me a long hard stare as I read it out loud. Your neighbors are voting for Nigel Farage is written in black block capitals. He gives me a slow node and rides off. It's very silently delivered by a man on a motorbike with a helmet who's now about to ride off. Okay, but are they in Clacton? Could the town change its mind on its incumbent mp? And what might the future hold if it did?

[Local Resident]

I think there's going to be rules broken for all of them if someone dealt deep Del, deep enough.

[Noshi Nikbal]

So do you think he's particularly hounded?

[Local Resident]

Yeah. Too. The impression I get around here that he's very marmite. There's a lot of people that. That are really supported him and there's a lot of people that I think are going to waste a vote on a man with a bin on his head to prove the point against Nigel Farage.

[Local Critic of Farage]

It's interesting. I've had so many conversations about Farage and how, I mean, he just makes me so angry. I don't know what power he seems to hold, what magic he wields for people. I mean, he's good at talking and I think he's saying all the things that people want to hear. But he's ultimately a scam artist.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But it doesn't seem to bother people who follow him or who like him. And I wonder how your opinion goes down if you're sharing it with other local people in the community.

[Local Critic of Farage]

It's quite awkward having these conversations locally because you don't know. People aren't necessarily very open about how they're voting, but no one's openly told me they're voting for reform. And some of us feel quite uncomfortable about saying that because I don't know why people are choosing Farage. I can't get into that headspace because to me he's just peddling so much hate.

[Noshi Nikbal]

We arranged to meet Daniel Rees. He's a crime reporter for the Colchester Gazette whose beat includes Clacton. He's joined us after work and looks like he's headed to the gym. It's our final interview of the day. What have you learned about the place?

[Daniel Rees]

It's a place that whenever it makes the national headlines, it's not normally for the right reasons.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay.

[Daniel Rees]

Every year or every couple of years there will be a story on Jwick and how deprived Jaywick is part of Clacton. Not far from here, there was a very prominent court case earlier this year which involved two XL bullies killing an old woman and mauling her to death. And that was another huge, huge story in Clacton. But I think for the most part, voters in Clacton think Nigel Farage has attracted good attention.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay.

[Daniel Rees]

Which is, sadly for this part of Essex, quite rare.

[Noshi Nikbal]

So you, I understand it, were in Clacton town centre the day the by election was called. What was the atmosphere like?

[Daniel Rees]

It was busy. The general consensus was the media have tried desperately hard to take Farage down because they see him as a big threat and he's the only person who can sort of deliver the UK from, from this Terrible, terrible state that Farage claims it to be in. Interestingly, the people who did not speak favourably of Farage spoke more favourably about Rupert Lowe and Restore. So interesting. Among the people I spoke to, they didn't think highly of Farage because they

[Noshi Nikbal]

were further to the right of reform.

[Daniel Rees]

Absolutely. That's exactly it.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Wow.

[Michael O'Keefe]

Okay.

[Noshi Nikbal]

So one of the main concerns that has come up and, and obviously it's, you know, it's a small sample that we've spoken to today is about immigration, about small boats and how that then translates to potentially more crime. Now that's your beat, as I understand it. What can you tell me about what that looks like?

[Daniel Rees]

Absolutely. I see people from all walks of society come before magistrates and I couldn't tell you how few ethnic minorities from Clacton have come before the criminal justice system. It's a really, really low number. At least once a year on average, it seems there's a hugely serious 15 to 20 year plus sort of sentence given to serious sex offenders. But based purely on what I see, there are plenty of white males and white females and British people who are absolutely involved in that form of anti social behavior.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And yet the picture you get, all the concern and anxiety you get from Clacton residents, does that correlate?

[Daniel Rees]

No, it does not correlate with what I see when I go into Clacton town centre. And I think what Farage has done, in my view, anyway, he's played on or exploited a very deep seated suspicion of immigrants. And yet those fears are just as prevalent in Clacton, despite the fact Clacton is probably affected less by immigration than many other parts of.

[Noshi Nikbal]

There's barely any migrants.

[Daniel Rees]

Exactly. It's not a diverse town. The majority of people you will see here are white British people.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Daniel, what has Nigel Farage actually done for Clacton? And what would people tell you that he has done?

[Daniel Rees]

I asked him this three weeks ago when I sat down with him at a hotel. He says that he has brought a huge amount of profile to Clacton, which is true, because let's face it, he is the most famous politician in the country. And when I put this exact question to him, the list sort of stops there.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Right.

[Daniel Rees]

And he caveats what he's just said with, but I'm only one MP and we cannot do a huge amount with only a handful of members of Parliament in the House of Commons. That's his answer to that question.

[Noshi Nikbal]

If one was to point to the achievement, successes and what have you, Farage, and let's say found them lacking. Does the average person in Clacton care? And why, why don't they care?

[Daniel Rees]

Not particularly. I've spoken to voters and they've said, oh, right, okay, I haven't really seen seen much of him in Clacton but that does not matter. The people he has won over are going to be really difficult for the other parties to prize from reform. I really genuinely believe that. It's sort of like setting concrete and the concrete is just going to set too quickly for the other parties to try and chisel chunks out of the reform voting electorate.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And that's it for today. You can follow all of our coverage of the Clacton by election and more on Nigel Farage, [e-mail] this episode was presented by me, Noshi Nikbal and produced by Ivan Manley and Alex Atak, sound designers by Ross Burns. And the executive producers were Huma Khalili and Sammy Kent. Today in Focus. We'll be back with you tomorrow morning. This is the Guardian.