Nigel Farage’s pledge to fight a second “battle of Clacton” collapsed within hours, as rival parties lined up to boycott the byelection he triggered while facing twin parliamentary probes into his finances.
The Reform UK leader, who shot to fame in 2024 addressing thousands through the hatch of an armoured Land Rover on the town’s seafront, announced he would call a “people versus the establishment byelection”. But the response from rivals was swift: Rupert Lowe, his sworn hard-right opponent leading Restore Britain, confirmed he would not stand, after his party already drained Reform votes in the recent Makerfield byelection. The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Labour followed suit, with a Labour spokesperson accusing Farage of “desperately trying to change the subject” from what it called the “sleaze scandal engulfing him”.
“Clacton residents show little enthusiasm for Farage as Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Reform rivals boycott his byelection.”
The controversy centres on two separate inquiries into Farage’s financial support. In recent months, the Guardian revealed he took a £5m personal gift from cryptocurrency billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne. Now fresh questions have emerged over lifestyle support from convicted criminal George Cottrell. Farage insists he is the victim of an “establishment plot” – a claim echoed by former donor Arron Banks, deputy leader Richard Tice, and associate Andy Wigmore, who called the media scrutiny a “witch-hunt”.
In Clacton itself, the prospect of a byelection was met with weariness. Paul Thompson, a former Labour voter, said he would no longer vote for any party: “Everyone’s just out for their own.” He cited daily struggles, including accessing medication, and said the country “needs a bloody good kick up the arse”. But he still wanted someone to stand against Farage: “I don’t like the bloke … haven’t from the beginning,” he said, citing what he described as Farage’s hard-right politics.
Zöe Waters described a town split between loyalists and critics. “I have heard from people that he is a joke, he shouldn’t be reelected. Then you get people who love him,” she said.
With no major opponent in sight, the byelection risks becoming a hollow victory for Farage – but a victory that may further erode his claim to be an outsider fighting for ordinary people.