Comments
The result in Clacton is more evidence for my thesis that voters are so entrenched in their attitudes towards Nigel Farage that his chances of reaching No. 10 are slim. Reform is spinning the 17 per cent jump in its leader’s vote share as a triumph – and it might have been if it weren’t for the circumstances. This is a man we’re told wants to be the next prime minister, but just look at that result for Count Binface, the alleged comedy candidate.
A vote share of 27 per cent for an establishment progressive in Clacton of all places is a pretty significant data point. It’s no good blaming the other parties for dingying the contest or the media for being out to get Farage. By sticking a garbage can on his head, Jonathan David Harvey has demonstrated that one in every four locals who could be bothered to turn out at a by-election, and a thoroughly unnecessary by-election at that, were sufficiently hostile to Farage to vote for a novelty candidate.
Those who would have us believe this is irrelevant because, come the general election, the anti-Farage vote will be split between the usual parties and the electorate will be in a serious mood more befitting a battle for the country’s future, must contend with two lessons last night has taught. Reform’s opponents have learned that Farage is vulnerable to a single opponent, and if Count Binface is good for 27 per cent, what might a straight-faced anti-Farage candidate manage? Having stood aside this time for an ‘independent space warrior’, there is no reason why the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats shouldn’t do the same next time, perhaps tacitly throwing their support behind a Martin Bell-style integrity-in-politics candidate.
