CLACTON has been left without an MP for one month after Nigel Farage resigned, then announced he was standing in the by-election for his seat.
Walking around town one week before polling day, the mood feels somewhere between cheerful, chaotic and confused.
On paper, this by-election should be a serious moment. The former MP quit in protest at what he called unfair scrutiny, triggering a contest to “stick two fingers up to the establishment”.
At the same time, no other major party has bothered to stand, leaving voters with a crowded but surreal ballot paper of dozens of names, a handful of serious local campaigns, and a novelty candidate in Count Binface.
While Clacton town centre is business as usual – aside from the occasional resident sporting a Count Binface t-shirt – in residential streets across the constituency, the politics is on display.
Turquoise Reform UK boards lean against garden fences, and Mr Farage’s face looks as passers-by with the slogan, ‘I’m with Nigel’.
In several gardens, improvised Count Binface material is displayed – including a statue made with a water butt and plant pot, yellow banners calling for ‘bin day’, and reportedly one food waste bin hefted up onto a post among turquoise circles.
It feels like a large part of the constituency has turned itself into a living campaign poster.
Online, the tone is often sharper. Local Facebook groups and X threads are full of heated arguments, with Reform loyalists defending Mr Farage’s voting record and critics asking why he hasn’t held surgeries or replied to emails.
Some voters say they’re disappointed at what they see as a vanity by-election and a waste of money; others insist this is his chance to prove a point for “the people”.
In the middle of all this, are the quietly undecided – the non-voters who made up the largest portion of the eligible voters in the 2024 general election.
They are people who want investment, better transport, proper representation – but aren’t convinced the by-election will bring it any closer, whoever the winner is.
One thing is for certain – the town is sure to become a media frenzy as the by-election looms.
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