What Clacton’s history tells us about Farage’s by-election chances

What Clacton’s history tells us about Farage’s by-election chances The Clacton constituency, on the coast of Essex in eastern England, has had an eventful history - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments When Nigel Farage won the Clacton seat in the 2024 general election with 46.2 per cent of the vote, it was Reform UK's strongest performance nationwide. This result saw him unseat the incumbent Conservative MP, Giles Watling, who garnered 27.9 per cent, while Labour trailed in third place with 16.2 per cent. The Liberal Democrats and Greens secured 4.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively, placing them considerably behind the main contenders. The Reform UK leader will fight a by-election after he announced he will quit as an MP after coming under intense pressure over unregistered donations of cash and support. The coastal Essex constituency of Clacton, established in 2010, boasts a colourful political history. Its first MP, Conservative Douglas Carswell, famously defected from the Conservatives to the UK Independence Party (Ukip) in 2014, then under the leadership of Mr Farage. Mr Carswell subsequently resigned his seat, triggering a by-election which he won for Ukip, increasing his majority. He held the seat at the 2015 general election – the only constituency won by Ukip in the country – but left the party two years later after disagreements with colleagues, becoming an independent MP. At the next general election in 2017, Douglas Carswell did not stand as a candidate in Clacton and the seat was won by Giles Watling for the Conservatives with 61.2 per cent of the vote, while the new Ukip candidate polled only 7.6 per cent. Two years later at the 2019 general election, Mr Watling boosted his vote even further, to 72.3 per cent. Ukip did not stand in Clacton in 2019 and neither did the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage’s new political organisation, which decided not to field candidates in any Conservative-held seats. But as the 2024 general election approached, the Brexit Party – under its new name Reform and then not under the leadership of Mr Farage – saw Clacton as one of its best chances of success and picked a former taxi driver as its candidate. Nigel Farage then announced early in the 2024 campaign that he intended to return to his job as Reform leader and that he would be the party’s candidate in Clacton. He went on to win the seat, while the former taxi driver stood as an independent and got 0.7 per cent of the vote. Data from the 2021 census shows 96.1 per cent of residents in the constituency of Clacton identify as white, compared with 86.5 per cent in eastern England and 83.0 per cent across the whole of the UK. Some 94.9 per cent of residents in the constituency were born in the UK, 2.5 per cent in the European Union and 2.6 per cent in the rest of the world. The percentage of residents in Clacton claiming unemployment benefits in April 2026 was 4.8 per cent, higher than the equivalent figures for the region (3.3 per cent) and the UK (3.9 per cent). Nearly a quarter (24.3 per cent) of children in the constituency were estimated to be living in relative poverty in 2024/25, defined as households with income below 60% of the median national average before housing costs. The equivalent figures for eastern England and the UK are 16.1 per cent and 19.3 per cent respectively. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments