Clacton by-election

I think the salient point here is, if Mr Farage genuinely cares about his constituency, would he really leave them totally without representation and cause this media circus? Cossy

I totally agree with you. They might as well have a bin representing them.

Cossy there are a myriad of political parties in the UK , but for many years our political system has been dominated by two, Labour and Conservative.

Which is why in my post I made a point of saying two main parties

“J52

Cossy
OK, here’s a simple question, who is now looking after the good people of Clacton? As I understand it, Farage formally stepped down as an MP yesterday?
No one, but no one was anyway!“

I think the salient point here is, if Me Farage genuinely cares about his constituency, would he really leave them totally without representation and cause this media circus?

Finally, can we please stop insisting we only have two political parties plus Reform!

We have two “major” political parties, but we have MPs representing many other parties:-

Labour: 403
Conservative : 117
Lib Democrats: 71
SNP: 8
Reform UK: 7
Sinn Féin: 7 seats
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP): 5
Green Party: 5
Independent Alliance: 4
Plaid Cymru: 4
Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP): 2
Your Party: 2
Alliance Party: 1
Restore Britain: 1
Trad Unionist Voice (TUV): 1 seat

Each and every one of the above have the same voting rights, the same job role and the same right to lobby parliament as the other.

Of course when it comes to the actual voting on big issues the party in power do have the most influence.

Cossy

OK, here’s a simple question, who is now looking after the good people of Clacton? As I understand it, Farage formally stepped down as an MP yesterday?

No one, but no one was anyway!

OK, here’s a simple question, who is now looking after the good people of Clacton? As I understand it, Farage formally stepped down as an MP yesterday?

Galaxy

Wouldn't it be useful to wonder why they want to hear that?

I think we all know, Galaxy. However, there are pockets of deprivation across the UK.

There are MPs who work very very hard, from all political parties, to help their constituencies.

We have deprived wards in my area, and have had, and do have now, visible MPs, holding surgeries and 1-2-1 meetings, helping individuals and communities have better lives and to access services. Turning up to local events, sending out monthly newsletters, maintaining local offices.

Our current MP is Labour, who replaced a Tory, and the Tory predecessor was David Ammess, despite him being tragically murdered whilst holding a surgeries, both his successors still ran surgeries, they turned up in Parliament and voted on issues affecting their constituencies, they do the job they are paid to do!

My question is simple, if Farage does not or will not or cannot do the job he’s paid to do as an MP, serving his constituency, how on earth will he manage to “serve” the entire country with his (alleged) much desired role as PM?

If Nigel Farage is according to some just a grifter why is he getting under so many people’s skin?

I can understand why people are going towards Reform, they feel let down and forgotten by the two main parties.

The Greens have gone rather odd with their new leader (who is not an MP)

The Lib Dem’s, well quiet as usual.

Labour and Conservative to busy infighting and point scoring to listen to the electorate.

Obviously this is only my opinion, i don’t think I am far off of the mark…

Ooops if it makes that person feel better!

Wyllow3

Hmm, I'd have been tempted to report, cossy. Comments from a peeved pro-Farage? lets just walk on by.

Not worth the effort, if it’s make that person feel better 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Wouldn't it be useful to wonder why they want to hear that?

Galaxy

They hold those voters in contempt because they voted for Farage. How could they be fooled by him? The fact that Farage understand them, or the voters think he understand them, should give other parties pause for thought. But it won't. On they will go.

I think you’ve hit the nail right on its head, those who vote for Farage “think he understands them”.

Some of us feel differently, for example, I see Farage as an exemplary speaker, he pulls people in by saying what he wants them to hear. However, as I keep saying, in my opinion, actions speak far louder than words.

What has Farage actually delivered to the good people of Clacton in the last two years?

What did Farage deliver to us all in 20 years of being an MEP?

You’ll see from this, that yes, I have indeed followed Farage’s political life for many many years, it’s how I judge him, how I’ve formed my opinions of him. Actions, not words!

And what's the man with the bin on his head driven by?

We don’t have executive orders, Cossy, but we do have secondary legislation. But even it legislation is passed in the House of Commons, it can be killed stone dead by the House of Lords with a “fatal motion”.

Ros Altmann tried to do this in 2024 over the removal of the universal winter fuel payment. She failed because Labour stuck to the protocol that peers in an unelected house don’t overrule the elected MPs of their own party … and Labour has whipped its MPs, most of them new, to defeat Sunak’s HoC motion to kill it.

I think it was Jacob Rees Mogg or David Starkey who said Reform would have to stuff the Lords with about 500 new peers to get anything passed. That isn’t going to happen and even if Reform tried, the House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC) and ultimately the King could put the brakes on that.

Add that to the fact that to have an overall majority, Reform would have to win at least 326 seats (but in practice more than that as they would have no allies to vote with them in crucial divisions and few MPs turn up for all divisions). How would they fill 149 ministerial positions? They wouldn’t have enough people with experience to fill the 23 cabinet positions. Polls show that Braverman, Jenrick and Kruger could all lose their seats. That’s what happens when you pee off voters who voted Conservative and end up with Farage sycophants.

Reform claim they would bring in people from business but that only really works in non-cabinet positions because unelected people cannot enter the House of Commons to make statements and answer questions, a vital part of our democratic process.

Sunak’s appointment of Cameron as Foreign Secretary presented those practical problems. The notion of having the perpetually angry Zia Yusuf as Home Secretary, a man Reform won’t even let stand in a by-election, is ludicrous and shows what a shallow talent-pool Reform is.

The only dubious skill they all seem to share is being able to shout over journalists. Producers would do well to find the mics off switch.

Lewis Goodall is absolutely right when he says Farage is doing what Trump does with Vance and Rubio. Sends his minions out on the media round to defend the indefensible, making themselves looks desperate and stupid in the process. Krishnan Guru-Murthy made Laila Cunningham look utterly foolish on Channel 4 news. Not that hard but she looked even more wrong-footed than usual.

Farage isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, narcissists are never as clever as they think they are as their desperate need for attention eclipses common sense, but he isn’t stupid either. He knows all this, knows that he is incapable of doing the job of Prime Minister, knows he couldn’t form a government from the poor calibre people Reform attracts, and that his maverick behaviour that allows him to scrape by on the fringes simply wouldn’t cut it in a centuries-old institution. It’s why he has the hump now, because he doesn’t think Parliamentary procedures or scrutiny should apply to him.

Ultimately, he is driven by his love of money and greed. The dubious financial dealings of Reform are being exposed on a daily basis. Why did Fiona Cottrell funnel money to Reform via Australian money exchange platform Oneify and Tice’s company and where did it come from in the first place? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Why did banks find it necessary to refer the matter to the NCA because they couldn’t trace where the money was coming from?

It’s all unravelling and Farage knows it. His by-election strategy has backfired spectacularly making him a laughing stock.

I don't really like the Britain is broken thing when it comes from either side to be honest. The left have done it for years in terms of oh Britain terrible colonialism, institutional racism, etc, and now the right are doing it.

Galaxy

They hold those voters in contempt because they voted for Farage. How could they be fooled by him? The fact that Farage understand them, or the voters think he understand them, should give other parties pause for thought. But it won't. On they will go.

I do admire your ability to see into the minds of an entire segment of the population, Galaxy

Nigel Farage knows Britain is broken and we need a general election. He has given us the next best thing.

Isn't this why Starmer was booted out he didn't give the majority what they wanted.

Starmer was 'booted out' as you so charmingly put it, Sunshinegirls, because he proved to be a poor leader who failed to enthuse voters and frustrated many of his MPs and Ministers with his apparent swing away from traditional Labour values and aspirations. 'The majority' had little to do with it, it came from within his own party.

Understands.

They hold those voters in contempt because they voted for Farage. How could they be fooled by him? The fact that Farage understand them, or the voters think he understand them, should give other parties pause for thought. But it won't. On they will go.

greyfur

I can understand the discontent with the 2 party system, life in general and frustation over the perception that newcomers have a good deal.

I can't understand what people think Farage will do and (importantly) how.

I agree. Life is tough, it throws us curveballs we don’t see coming and none of our recent governments appear to have made any of our lives very much different.

However, when I look at things via a different perspective, I see that despite everything positive things happened in both the previous government, COVID vaccine rollout and furlough, and this government, people easily forget how lucky we actually are in this country.

Life is tough and people undoubtedly suffer, but, despite many protestations and denials, we are lucky to have been born here, we have things we take for granted on a daily basis.

Starmer and his government have made inroads in various areas, I’m not listing them again, they’ve been put in writing on here several times by various people and some of you refuse to recognise facts put right in front of you.

Today, it’s too hot, but most of us have ready access to clean cold water, we have roofs over our heads, we do have access to healthcare which may not be ideal, but is free at point of need, we have a welfare system, we have access to education.

Most of us have good families, great children and dear grandchildren.

Anyone reading this is woke up this morning still alive!

Let’s just sometimes appreciate what we have instead of constantly yearning for those things we don’t have.

Today my thoughts are with those on here whose lives have been turned upside down by tragic events, deaths, illness and estrangements of those they love.

I wish every single one of you on here the best day possible for you and yours

Galaxy

The man in the bin and those laughing at this hold them in the same contempt. What's the difference? No wonder they think bugger this for a game of soldiers.

I don't know how you reach that conclusion, Galaxy. those I who I read or talk to are certainly not laughing at Clacton voters, they are more likely to be sympathetic to them for having to go through this rigmarole to satisfy the vanity and fear of a man who has used them to further his own ends and done little, if anything at all, to improve their lives.

The person who is being laughed at is Farage, whose grand gesture, supposed to deflect attention from the parliamentary Standards Commissioner's enquiry into his alleged breaking of Parliamentary rules, and to demonstrate his hold over the voters of Clacton, has spectacularly misfired with the mainstream parties refusing to play his game and his only challengers being joke candidates (who turn up at most major elections, so nothing unusual there) and the weird Laurence Fox.
Of course, the possibility that Count Binface, who seems to be a reasonably intelligent person, might run Farage very close, or even beat him, adds to the humour...

There being a high probability that Farage will be re-elected and the Commissioner's enquiry will end in a result which is not favourable to Farage the poor people of Clacton may have to go through all this again in the autumn; when the mainstream parties will participate.

Though, who knows? Clacton voters may well be pleased to be the centre of attention for once (or even twice) , instead of being the forgotten 'left behinds' which they understandably see themselves as.

Hmm, I'd have been tempted to report, cossy. Comments from a peeved pro-Farage? lets just walk on by.

The view of no longer wanting to be PM no longer makes sense to me either.
I used to wonder, but dont think I do now.

Sunshinegirls

08:26Cossy

Errr if he doesn't want to be PM why's he standing again then? he's got plenty of money why not just walk away, your view doesn't make sense to me but heyho you know all about him as you follow his every move.

No need at all to be rude or sarky. I should have added, in my opinion.

I probably should remember to always add that, after all, we are all allowed our opinions, however silly others may find them!

Enjoy your day