From FB. Not my work, but an intelligent summing up.
FARAGE WINS CLACTON: A SHORT GUIDE FOR EVERY REFORM SUPPORTER CURRENTLY SHOUTING "LANDSLIDE!"
Well, Nigel Farage has won the by-election that Nigel Farage caused, in the constituency Nigel Farage already represented, after virtually every serious political party decided not to dignify the spectacle by standing against him.
And naturally, we'll all now spend the next few weeks seeing facebook flooded with Union Jack emojis and being told this was some sort of thundering democratic endorsement.
So let's look at the numbers.
🟦 FARAGE: 22,239 votes
🗑️ COUNT BINFACE: 9,455 votes
📉 TURNOUT: 44.37%
Farage received 63.34% of votes cast.
Count Binface received 26.93%.
That sounds like an enormous victory, doesn't it? Until you remember what happened last time.
At the 2024 general election, Farage received 21,225 votes. This time he got 22,239 votes.
So after resigning his seat, triggering an extraordinary by-election, generating weeks of publicity campaigning for his grand personal vote of confidence, holding rallies and turning Clacton into an international media circus, Nigel Farage increased his actual vote by precisely 1,014 people. That's it.
An increase of about 4.8%.
"BUT 63% IS A LANDSLIDE!"
It certainly looks like one, doesn't it? But there's just a few tiny details.
Labour didn't stand.
The Conservatives didn't stand.
The Liberal Democrats didn't stand.
The Greens didn't stand.
Even Restore Britain didn't stand.
In 2024 those four parties collectively received 24,219 votes in Clacton. This time all four disappeared from the ballot.
Remove virtually the entire mainstream opposition, flood Clacton with campaigning and publicity, turn the election into the Nigel Farage Show...
…and all he could find was precisely 1,014 more voters than he had two years ago.
That's the mighty surge. That's the revolution. That's the tidal wave apparently about to sweep Britain.
I'm sorry Reformers. That's not the political earthquake you think it is. At best it's a moderately successful village fête.
And it gets worse as FARAGE ACTUALLY UNDERPERFORMED EXPECTATIONS
The final Survation polling had Farage on around 75% with Binface on 20%.
The actual result was:
Farage: 63.34%
Binface: 26.93%
So Farage finished roughly 12 percentage points below that headline polling figure, while Count Binface finished roughly 7 points above it.
Imagine being the leader of a party with national ambitions, fighting a joke candidate after Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Restore Britain have all cleared the pitch and still managing to underperform the polling.
"THE PEOPLE OF CLACTON HAVE SPOKEN!"
Well... some of them.
Turnout in 2024: 58.7%
Turnout yesterday: 44.37%
Farage's 22,239 votes amount to roughly 28% of the registered electorate.
Yes, he won, but 63% of votes cast and 63% of Clacton are two completely different things.
Nearly three quarters of the electorate DIDN'T vote for him, so perhaps postpone the coronation.
"BUT HE DESTROYED BINFACE!"
Let's take a moment to look at those two main contenders.
Nigel Farage:
▪️Party leader.
▪️MP and former MEP.
▪️Decades of media exposure.
▪️Huge social-media following.
▪️Major multi-billionaire donors.
▪️National campaign infrastructure.
▪️Weeks of promotion.
Count Binface:
▪️Bin.
Result?
Farage: 22,239
Bin: 9,455
So for approximately every 2.35 people who voted for Nigel Farage, one voted for a comedy space bin.
If you're boasting about Reform's win today you should be aware it isn't exactly the flex you think it is.
"FARAGE COULDN'T ATTEND THE COUNT BECAUSE THE POLICE TOLD HIM NOT TO!"
This is my favourite part.
Reform said Farage stayed away because there had been a "credible threat" and police had advised him not to attend.
There's just one slight problem with that statement.
The Press Association contacted Essex Police...
... and the Police said they had NOT advised Nigel Farage not to attend.
In fact, they said:
"Essex Police did not advise Mr Farage, or any candidate, not to attend the Clacton by-election count."
That's quite a correction, isn't it?
Farage himself had previously talked about attempts to "demean and humiliate" him at the declaration. So the fearless man who wants to become Prime Minister somehow managed to survive Brexit, Trump rallies, Question Time and GB News, but apparently drew the line at standing next to Count Binface while someone read out the numbers.
The other 33 candidates somehow survived this terrifying ordeal.
Let's all send thoughts and prayers to Nigel.
"CAN I HAVE THE BILL, PLEASE?"
For weeks Reform has thrown enormous effort into this contest. Rallies, promotion, activists, campaigning and a constant stream of Clacton photo opportunities for supporters bussed in from all over the country. Reform County Councillors have abandoned their constituents to visit Clacton and show their support for a man reapplying for a job he already had.
So when the statutory campaign returns become available, I'd genuinely love to know:
How much did those extra 1,014 votes cost?
Because there's another bill too.
Farage voluntarily resigned the seat he already held and triggered this entire by-election. He initially said Reform would pay the cost, knowing full well that parties can't directly pay for administering parliamentary by-elections in that way.
The public purse does.
Previous estimates put this unnecessary exercise comfortably into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. All to elect Nigel Farage to replace Nigel Farage. That's a perfect example of fiscal responsibility, Reform style.
AND AFTER ALL THAT, GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
This whole circus began amid parliamentary scrutiny of Farage's financial declarations, including the £5 million gift from Christopher Harborne.
Farage denies wrongdoing and called the scrutiny a political hit job. The parliamentary investigation was suspended when he stopped being an MP.
But now, Nigel's an MP again, SO THE INVESTIGATION RESUMES. 😂
Let's just take a moment to appreciate the journey.
Nigel Farage, MP
⬇️
Parliamentary investigation
⬇️
Farage resigns
⬇️
By-election triggered
⬇️
Weeks of campaigning
⬇️
Main parties refuse to participate
⬇️
Farage fights a man dressed as a bin
⬇️
9,455 people choose the bin
⬇️
Farage wins
⬇️
Nigel Farage, MP
⬇️
Parliamentary investigation resumes
We've spent weeks going around an extremely expensive circle.
So congratulations to Nigel Farage on his "overwhelming endorsement". He fought a by-election he triggered himself, for a seat he already held, without Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens or Restore Britain standing, after weeks of intensive campaigning.
He increased his 2024 vote by 1,014.
He didn't attend his own declaration.
Reform's explanation for that absence was publicly contradicted by Essex Police.
Nearly 9,500 people voted for a man wearing a bin on his head.
And after the whole magnificent spectacle, Nigel returns to Westminster where the investigation resumes.
So enjoy the victory lap, Reform, but perhaps stop shouting "LANDSLIDE!"
When virtually all the serious opposition stays home and your principal opponent is dressed as household waste, winning is really the minimum expected.
The best part of all this, is that somewhere in Britain today, Count Binface can legitimately say, "I got 42% as many votes as Nigel Farage."
Which may be the funniest result of all
#politics #ukpol #reformuk #reform #farage #binface #fascism #racism #conman
#farage #ukpol #clacton
Well Clacton, your time in the spotlight is over.
You have proven yourself to be, in the main, populated by hateful racists and idiots too get off their arses and vote for reason, with just over 10% of you being thinking, reasonable people.
Time to go back to obscurity and wondering where your MP is again this week, while blaming your neighbour for all your problems because he's not the same colour as you or speaks a different language.
You are now the laughing stock and despair of a country trying to rescue itself from the rise of fascism.
