Satirical candidate Count Binface appears to be Nigel Farage’s main electoral rival in the Clacton by-election as Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain will not stand candidates.Political opponents accused the Reform UK leader of using a distraction technique as he faces questions over donations.The by-election “shouldn’t be happening”, home secretary Yvette Cooper said, as she described it as Mr Farage’s “political tantrum”.Insisting he had done nothing wrong, the Reform UK leader resigned on Tuesday and said he would be fighting the by-election to give voters a chance to “stick two fingers up to the establishment”. A spokesperson for would-be PM Andy Burnham called the election “a gimmick designed to distract from serious allegations about Farage’s funders.” It has been reported that convicted criminal George Cottrell provided Mr Farage with funding for security and staffing before he was elected. Mr Farage was already being investigated by the standards commissioner over a £5m gift he received from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne.Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The IndependentCleverly demands PM-in-waiting Burnham ditch controversial jury trial plansLabour is pressing ahead with plans to cut the number of trials heard by a jury instead of a judge.But the move has proved very controversial, with the campaign against it led by a currently suspended Labour MP Karl Turner.At PMQs, James Cleverly, standing in for his party leader Kemi Badenoch, warned Andy Burnham: “If the soon-to-be prime minister does not want to be complicit in this failure, he should come out and condemn this plan, not just hint that he opposes it.“Because if Labour cannot protect the citizens of this country, either domestically or internationally, then what on earth is the point of them?”Kate Devlin8 July 2026 12:25Cleverly asks if Andy Burnham is in the CommonsAmid a debate regarding jury trials with David Lammy, James Cleverly asks if Andy Burnham, the likely next prime minister, is in the Commons for PMQs.It appears that the new MP for Makerfield is elsewhere. Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 12:21Lammy asked to apologise to ‘the victims of the rapists, sexual predators, and paedophiles he is planning to release early’David Lammy standing in for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs (Sky News)Standing in for Starmer at PMQs, David Lammy, the justice secretary, has been challenged over Labour’s early release scheme.He said that “every decision we have taken” has been based on public safety and he hit out at the Conservatives who he said had left the new Labour government with “just 83 empty cells” when it came to power.Kate Devlin8 July 2026 12:15David Lammy pays tribute to best friend killed in 7/7 bombingsDavid Lammy has opened PMQs by paying tribute to those killed in the 7/7 bombings, including his childhood best friend.The deputy prime minister said: "This week we mark the awful anniversary of 7/7, a day when people travelling through London on a bright summer morning had their lives ended and changed forever, including my best friend James Adams."We remember all those affected by those terrible attacks and we will always stand against terrorism."Millie Cooke8 July 2026 12:09Lammy pays tribute to former MP and 7/7 victimsThe deputy prime minister begins by paying tribute to the victims of 7/7 in the week of the anniversary.He also pays tribute to George Howarth, former MP for Knowsley, who has died.Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 12:08PMQs beginsIn the absence of Sir Keir Starmer, who is in Turkey for a Nato summit, David Lammy is in the House of Commons and will take questions from MPs.James Cleverly is standing in for Kemi Badenoch.Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 12:04Suella Braverman takes aim at councils failing children with ‘fashionable fads’Reform UK’s Suella Braverman was heckled as she hit out at councils for failing white working-class children.In a speech to the Local Government Association, she accused some administrations of being “more keen to support the children of Gaza than the children of Grimsby” and making youngsters “ashamed of our great country”.Some members of the cross-party audience in Bournemouth interrupted her and others walked out as she criticised them.Mrs Braverman, Reform’s education spokeswoman, said a “system failure and neglect of white working-class families” over decades had resulted in a situation where just 40% of children from that background get a Grade 4 – the standard definition of a pass – at GCSE maths and English.She said they had been “betrayed by Westminster” and “not all councils, but some and too many, have failed some of their communities”.“If local government had been more focused on supporting schools that focused on standards and rigour rather than promoting progressive causes then maybe some of these communities would be in a better position. Maybe this scandal would not have happened,” she said.“For too long too many councils have supported damaging transgender ideology in their policies, want to support the exclusion of British culture and patriotism, are focused more on fashionable fads than actually dealing with special education needs.“More keen to support the children of Gaza than the children of Grimsby, bearing down on our children and making them ashamed to feel British, ashamed of their great country.”In response to the heckling, she said: “Local government plays a part. You can deny it, but the statistics show that our young people are being failed in many of our schools and I won’t stop standing up for them.”Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 11:56Analysis: Farage’s by-election stunt could see him consigned to the dustbin of historyPolitical editor David Maddox says Nigel Farage has failed to learn lessons from history – and it could result in career-ending embarrassment for the Reform UK leader.David Maddox8 July 2026 11:45Lammy to stand in at PMQsAttention will soon turn to Prime Minister’s Questions, where David Lammy will stand in for the outgoing Sir Keir Starmer, who is in Turkey for a Nato summit. We will bring you all the news from the Commons from midday.Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 11:39Dan Haygarth8 July 2026 11:35