Why Nigel Farage might end up looking a bit silly as he succumbs to by-election fever
Voters who haven’t really been following the accusations against Nigel Farage may grumble about being asked to go to the polls again
By-elections seem to be catching. We’ve had SNP MPs triggering them after becoming MSPs, a Labour MP resigning so Greater Manchester’s mayor could become Prime Minister, and now Nigel Farage has quit his Clacton seat in order to stand again, apparently to enable voters to “stick two fingers up to the entire establishment” or something.
Farage seems to hope the ‘will of the people’ will lay to rest any concerns about allegedly undeclared gifts from wealthy ally George Cottrell and a parliamentary standards investigation over a £5 million gift from Reform donor Christopher Harborne before Farage became an MP. He had, he said, done “nothing wrong”.
Andy Burnham’s by-election gamble worked and he arrived at Westminster as a Labour hero after defeating Reform in Makerfield.
However, Farage might find that Clacton residents who haven’t been following his latest travails may grumble about having to vote again. And, amid a growing boycott by other parties, if Farage and Count Binface turn out to be the only candidates, the whole thing might start to seem more than a little bit silly.
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