\u201cBritain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election,\u201d he said in a statement late on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Farage is widely expected to retain the eastern Essex seat, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, and political analysts have downplayed the vote\u2019s wider significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems unlikely that the byelection will be consequential for British politics,\u201d University of Southampton political science professor Will Jennings told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictory won\u2019t mean that questions about Farage or Reform\u2019s finances will go away, so it seems most likely it will be a wasted summer for everyone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Farage returns to Parliament afterwards we will be back where we started.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Rather silly\u2019<\/p>\n
Polls will close at 10pm, with counting beginning immediately and a result expected by around 7am on Friday.<\/p>\n
Turnout \u2013 nearly 59% in the 2024 general election \u2013 could be significantly down given the lack of traditional candidates from ruling centre-left Labour and the centre-right Conservatives.<\/p>\n
Farage netted 46% of the vote two years ago to become an MP on his eighth attempt, securing a majority of 8405. But comparisons may be complicated by the boycotts.<\/p>\n
Most of the candidates \u2013 the highest number of any parliamentary election \u2013 are standing as independents, and have led to a ballot paper which is nearly a metre long.<\/p>\n
Joke candidate Count Binface, who dresses with a grey dustbin over his head wearing a cape and silver armour, has captured global media attention and could snatch a fifth of the votes, according to a Survation poll.<\/p>\n
The self-styled \u201cintergalactic space warrior\u201d is part of a long British tradition of satirical election contenders, which appears to have reached its zenith in Clacton, where the Official Monster Raving Loony Party will also field three candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarage\u2019s plan to turn this byelection into a serious political battle failed,\u201d Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle \u201cmakes Farage look rather silly\u201d.<\/p>\n
An activist holds a placard urging people to vote for the satirical candidate Count Binface. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u2018Misjudgment\u2019<\/p>\n
Journalist Michael Crick, who wrote a 2022 biography of the Reform leader, agrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a complete misjudgment by Farage,\u201d he told the Daily Telegraph. \u201cHe\u2019s hoping to become Prime Minister, and Clacton is in no way representative of the country as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farage shocked Westminster and beyond when he announced his resignation as Clacton MP \u2013 and intention to re-stand for the role \u2013 on July 7 following intense scrutiny of his and Reform\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
The parliamentary sleaze watchdog is investigating Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, amid allegations they failed to declare financial gifts \u2013 including in Farage\u2019s case a \u00a35 million ($11.56m) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.<\/p>\n
They deny any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, London police have confirmed they started an investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 general election.<\/p>\n
British media have reported it relates to non-declared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.<\/p>\n
The controversies have coincided with a drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.<\/p>\n
Luke Tryl, who heads the More in Common research nonprofit, told AFP that Farage\u2019s core supporters \u201cseem largely undeterred\u201d but that newer Reform converts \u201cmight now be wavering\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2013 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBritain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election,\u201d he said in a statement late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23760,4666,243491,45567,243494,243497,11088,140010,76008,309,196042,59,37409,57,58,243496,51340,243492,1776,232645,15417,13092,33892,50,77009,9058,12675,3631,39237,182529,5609,5643,243495,56,54,55,243493],"class_list":["post-736393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-amid","tag-and","tag-binface","tag-boycott","tag-byelection","tag-called","tag-candidate","tag-count","tag-eastern","tag-england","tag-farage","tag-gb","tag-go","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-hardright","tag-head","tag-headtohead","tag-in","tag-joke","tag-leader","tag-main","tag-mainstream","tag-news","tag-nigel","tag-parties","tag-poll","tag-polls","tag-reform","tag-rival","tag-snap","tag-thursday","tag-triggered","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-voters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}