FARAGE COMEBACK
I’ll be a bloody nuisance, vows Nigel Farage if he’s made MP as he’s met with cheers and jeers during Clacton trip
Little wonder Farage cherry-picked the constituency to break his Westminster duck
THEY’VE got a Cliff Richard impersonator and Roy Chubby Brown doing turns in Clacton this summer.
Yesterday, another king of comebacks Nigel Farage was running through his repertoire on the resort’s pier.
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And a crowd of several hundred crammed beneath a ferris wheel lapped up his every word.
“Hello Clacton!” Farage bellowed to wild cheers as if he was starring in a Radio 1 roadshow.
Balanced on a picnic table in front of a fish and chip restaurant, he told the adoring throng: “Without Clacton, Brexit would never have happened!”
It was met with chants of “we love you Nigel, we do”.
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The old political trouper knows how to work a crowd. But in truth, he’d won them over years ago.
For this is Brexit-on-Sea, where more than 70 per cent voted to quit the EU in 2016’s referendum.
Almost 80 miles north-east of London on the Essex coast, the seaside resort of 53,000 twice voted for a UKIP MP.
Little wonder Farage, 60, cherry-picked the constituency to break his Westminster duck. It’s his eighth attempt at being elected to Parliament.
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Some in the crowd wore Donald Trump baseball caps and T-shirts, others had brought along their pet bulldogs. One onlooker held up a sign reading “Nigel Farage for Prime Minister”.
Farage ran through his greatest hits, promising to be tough on immigration and telling local voters: “You won’t get any woke PC nonsense from me.”
Thomas Godfrey on Farage milkshake incident in Clacton
And he received a rapturous cheer when telling his audience that the Tories had “betrayed” the trust of voters. Farage explained: “They opened up the borders to mass immigration like we have never seen before and they deserve to pay a price for that.”
It was again met with a roar of approval.
There was some dissent. A couple received cat calls when they held up a giant banner reading Farage Not Welcome Here.
And later when he was leaving a nearby Wetherspoons in conquering hero mode, a young blonde woman flung a McDonald’s banana milkshake in the Reform leader’s face.
When I caught up with her she gave her name only as Victoria and said she did it because Farage is “an a******e”.
Yet earlier the former Ukip boss had been given a rock star’s welcome on Clacton Pier.
After watching Farage drop his electoral scatter bombs, retired publican Judith Forster, 62, commented: “Nigel had the crowd eating out of his hand. He really sticks it to the establishment.”
Friend Nicolette Barda, 65, added: “Immigration has to be curbed. I think Nigel will do better on that than Labour or the Conservatives.”
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Clacton and its surrounds has long been a retirement destination for London’s East Enders.
It’s an area that has its share of hardships. The constituency includes Jaywick, the poorest neighbourhood in England.
LONDON'S DUMPING GROUND
Research for a local health programme showed half of all people over 16 in the town were economically inactive and one in five have never had a job.
Enjoying a cup of tea outside the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoons, Clacton born and bred David Bye, 77, revealed: “I’ve seen Clacton go from a booming holiday resort into what it is today. We’re a dumping ground for London.”
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David, who served 17 years in the Navy, wants Farage to push for veterans rights and for more help pensioners.
The veteran added: “Nigel’s got charisma, he’s a popular guy. The Tories here have shot their bolt. We wanted out of Europe but the trouble is the Government gave us a wishy-washy deal.”
Supping a Guinness, Army veteran Tristan Barber, 44, said: “The crowd here today was made up of ordinary, hard-working people.
“They pay their tax and just don’t want to be screwed over.”
Chris Mankelow, 40, believes Farage can turn the area around.
The crowd here today pay their taxes and don’t want to be screwed over.
Army veteran Tristan Barber
The ex-support worker insisted: “I think Nigel is the most charismatic politician in the country. I first really noticed him in the jungle on I’m a Celebrity. He was such a salt-of-the-earth, charming character that I backed him to win it.”
Eating chips on the seafront, undecided voter Marilyn Dixon, 70, said: “A lot of what Farage says does make sense. I definitely won’t vote Tory.”
A bookie was giving odds of 11/4 on Farage to win the Tory-held seat.
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He had finished his end-of-the-pier show by telling the crowd: “Send me to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”
After this raucous reception, there’s little doubt he would be that.
When is the general election 2024?
The key points you need to know about the next UK General Election are:
The main date for your diaries is July 4, 2024, when millions of voters will go to the polls for the General Election.
But the process of formally triggering the election will take place on May 24, 2024 when Parliament is prorogued, signalling the end of the parliamentary year.
May 30, 2024 will see Parliament officially dissolved which means all current MPs cease to hold office and vacate their seats.
A crucial moment will be the release of the parties’ election manifestos where they set out their list of pledges for government.
After over a month of campaigning we then go to the polls.
Once votes have been counted, the King asks the leader of the party with the most MPs to become prime minister and to form a government.
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