If he wins, I am thinking that he could lose the costume, be John Harvey, and sincerely work as an Independent MP for Clacton-on-Sea. If he lived there, he could spend far more time with the voters than Farage ever did. I’d like that to happen because the people that live there shouldn’t have a joke MP (Yes, yes I know they already have one…).
However, I would like him to have the costume on in the House of Commons at least once.
that would be great.
Sadly I don’t think he will win, though he will have a much reduced majority.
A Martin Bell type candidate (for our younger reader the BBC journo who stood against Neil Hamilton as an anti-sleaze option) however I think would have had a great chance of winning.
“for our younger reader”
LOL
Who is it? Do we have anyone under 35 (5 years old when Bell won the Tatton election)?
I recall at some point The Massive were asked to post their ages. But I can’t remember who was the youngest…
It was me.
I am 60.
Surprised you could put down your Gameboy long enough to post, ya whippersnapper..
I am not yet 50. I like it here because it’s one of the increasingly few spaces where I get to feel like an upstart.
When I joined the Pedal Steel Guitar Forum at the age of about 30 I was less than half the average age. It has changed a lot now as the Americana influence has taken hold, but it was literally old gaffers writing in caps and complaining about any music post 1955.
I had a similar experience when I went to a Georgie Fame show about 20 years ago. Pretty sure most people thought I must be accompanying my parents.
Nige has been very quiet recently, and I suspect it is less to do with unpleasant threats against his health than the fact he received a £5m bung, and even his supporters are unimpressed.
Also if they give media space to farage then all the other candidates need to be given equal amounts of space,.
There are 34 candidates standing, the voting paper will look like a roll of loo paper.
His recent quietness could actually be an interesting factor in whether he wins or not.
My understanding – from ‘Private Eye’ – is that because he’s a candidate in a by-election (with 101 other candidates, no matter how fringe/novelty they are), UK TV channels are limited in the time they can give him without doing so equally to all the other candidates. As PE put it, FrogFace miscalculated on this – not realising that his soapbox would be severely curtailed while the by-election was active.
I’d read somewhere that he was only doing friendly media so as to avoid questions he doesn’t want to answer, which seem to multiply daily.
I think – if John Crace’s recent demolition of Jenrick in the Grauniad is on the money – that folk are starting to actually think about what Reform stands for, and who represents them.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/30/gb-news-robert-jenrick-reform-uk-social-care
Mr C, ‘im out of The Shamens, has chipped in with Bins Are Good.
Full video here
Farage will win, unfortunately. Still, it’s rather bracing watching him and his cronies spiral out of the skies into the drink.
They don’t like it up ‘em, do they?
Yes he will but with a reduced majority which will be enough to make a mockery of his alleged reasons for resigning his seat. His claim that he has triggered this by-election to seek absolution over his dodgy financial dealings in the court of public opinion can only be judged a victory by him if his majority holds up or increases. It won’t, then due procedure can be recommenced and all this bluster and bollocks will have been for nought.
A reduced majority will be spun by Farage’s cronies as a victory by the Establishment, mainstream media, the North London wokerati, whoever. He’s already been careful to tie the Widdecombe affair to his own argument for “security”
Yes he and the other shysters and grifters that make up his shoddy inner circle will wriggle and squirm and those who have drunk deep of his particular brand of Kool Aid will continue to believe the lies and nonsense. However I think these allegations and the continuing unravelling of Farage’s financial connections and Reform’s financing has done some damage, put a dent in the facade. The less invested are beginning to see through him and them. Plus they are not the only shower of right-wingnuts for the racist knuckledraggers to make their mark next to on ballot papers anymore. Reform are not a shoe-in for the next election and once that becomes more and more obvious I’d expect Farage to find some reason probably around the supposed threat to his safety to jump ship.
Then the investigation will continue, the electorate of Clacton not being the property author to decide such things, and if he is found to have acted improperly (if you can imagine such a thing) there will be another election and by then everyone will be praying for him to fuck off, he’ll quit in a huff, Reform will collapse without him.
Zia Yusuf will quit Reform when Farage goes and form a new party, Return. Simple, all migrants of any background will have to be booted out at gunpoint. Tice will continue with Reform but rename it Reborn and bring in Isabel Oakeshott as deputy. Nige will do the next series of Celebrity Traitors, win, and then form another party (to keep his wealthy backers happy) called Reborn.
They’re going to run out of words starting with Re, possibly at some point they’ll have to use repulsive.
Reflux
Regurgitate.
There are essentially a single-issue group anyway. Return and Reform are arguing with each other to attract right wing voters, so that’s fine by me. The Tories seem to be moving away from the right after years of trying to be “one of the lads”.