‘My friends are very anti him’: Clacton weary at prospect of Farage byelection

The Reform leader’s constituents weren’t very enthusiastic about their MP, or Westminster politics in general

It was one of the most-watched contests of the 2024 general election, where Nigel Farage’s campaign culminated with the Reform UK leader addressing thousands on Clacton’s seafront through the hatch of an armoured Land Rover.

Two years on, however, the prospect of a second “battle of Clacton” was unravelling in the hours after Farage’s announcement that he was triggering a “people versus the establishment byelection” at a time when he faces two parliamentary probes into financial support he received, including questions over a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire and Reform donor Christopher Harborne.