'Self-obsessed Nigel Farage’s priorities are himself, his money and power - Reform’s bubble is deflating'

Teeny Trump tribute act Nigel Farage is an angry Hard Right desperate chancer plotting a pricey £200,000 by-election to distract from his own dodgy dealings. The Reform slicker’s cynical pseudo-resignation, quitting as Clacton MP in the hope of being re-elected Clacton MP in an expensive stunt, should con only the criminally gullible. Because wealthfare junkie Farage still faces legitimate serious questions and a Parliamentary sleaze probe into his secret £5million gift from a Thai-based crypto tycoon and huge benefits from aristo convicted fraudster “Posh George” Cottrell. Farage claiming Reform will cover the £200,00 cost underlines how much this is an expensive gimmick, his is a party thinking votes can be bought by the highest bidder and creates fresh questions about who is picking up the bills. What else may emerge about a self-styled “man of the people” enjoying the highlife on the bounty of an incredibly rich elite is anybody’s guess yet his stunt won’t halt scrutiny or an investigation that, if Farage was found guilty of breaking Westminster’s openness rules, could potentially trigger a second by-election. So behaving like the Prince Harry of British politics, screaming he’s hounded by the media and complaining an establishment of which he is clearly a part is somehow out to get him, may ultimately prove as equally disastrous whatever the result of the first Clacton contest. Tory MP David Davis was a laughing stock when he played the same card in 2008 and a Labour and Lib Dem boycott turned that Haltemprice by-election into a circus, leaving him to face 25 eccentrics including a Miss Great Britain Party and the Church of the Militant Elvis. Then in 2016 the Tory trust fund toff Zack Goldsmith went one better in Richmond Park and ended with humble pie smeared all over his face when he spectacularly lost his own unnecessary by-election. Haunted, hunted Farage’s 8,405 majority in a Brexit stronghold may secure a pyrrhic return but Labour will use the fight to highlight the greed and entitlement of an opportunist sucking on the cash teat of sugar daddies while arch foe Rupert Lowe’s rival Far Right machine Restore Britain simultaneously accuses him of selling out the anti-migrant cause. Privately-educated City wheeler-dealer turned professional politician Nigel “five homes” Farage framing the tactical gamble as people vs establishment is another obvious con when the regular in London’s most exclusive restaurants and members’ clubs - drinking fine red wines and gin and tonics in private, saving pints in public for the cameras - is a creature of the financial elite. Self-obsessed Farage’s priorities are himself, his money and power. This by-election is about survival. He’s rattled, running out of road. Reform’s bubble is deflating. Nothing will be resolved in Clacton. Opening Pandora’s box, however, might prove disastrous nationally. I bet Andy Burnham can’t believe his luck.