Nigel Farage's Clacton by-election gamble
7/7/202626 min
A furious Nigel Farage has said he will ‘stick two fingers up to the establishment’ by resigning and then winning a by-election in Clacton. Kemi Badenoch has accused him of having a hissy fit and Andy Burnham has said it's a gimmick designed to distract from questions over undeclared gifts.
- Will the Conservatives and Labour field candidates in the Clacton by-election?
- Will a Reform UK victory in Clacton boost Nigel Farage's standing in the rest of the country?
- And can Nigel Farage be suspended after a parliamentary standards investigation even if he wins the by-election?
Who is George Cottrell, aka Posh George? Listen to the series here podfollow.com/posh-george
Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
Lara Spirit, deputy political editor, The Sunday Times
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness
Picture: Getty Images
Audio: Reuters
Email us: thestateofit@thetimes.co.uk
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNigel Farage· Soundbite0:00
[upbeat music] I've thought about it hard, and I've decided today, today I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clacton-on-Sea, thereby forcing a by-election, which should happen, I hope, in short order. [sighs] No, I've decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions. This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment to frankly tell them where to go.
Steven Swinford· Host0:35
Welcome to The State of It, the political podcast from The Times and the Sunday Times. I'm Stephen Swinford, the political editor of The Times.
Lara Spirit· Host0:44
I'm Lara Spirt, the deputy political editor of The Sunday Times.
Patrick Maguire· Host0:47
And I'm Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator for The Times.
Steven Swinford· Host0:50
And look, we are coming to you minutes after Nigel Farage has announced that he is standing down as the Reform UK MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election, and this is something of a gamble from Farage. What he is trying to do here is move the narrative away from questions about his funding, the huge amounts of money he's received from crypto donors, and onto a kind of core by-election campaign where he's planning to flood the constituency. So I guess the question is: Will it pay off? Um, let's start with Patrick. You'll start off for ten. Do you think this, this move is pretty bold. Do you think it will pay off?
Patrick Maguire· Host1:26
Look, if you're asking, Steve, will Nigel Farage win