I’m rich – defend me, be happy for me, says Farage to poor voters in Clacton. They are just his collateral damage | John Harris

Politics The Guardian By John Harris 07 Jul 2026 16:51 1 min read

The Reform UK leader’s ruse to head off scrutiny by forcing a byelection may work, but it’s all about him: no one else gains anything from it Most people who closely follow British politics probably know the basics about Jaywick, an enclave of Clacton, on the Essex coast. A sprawling tangle of tracks, paths and old holiday shacks repurposed as permanent homes, it has been ranked as England’s poorest area several times since 2011, most recently in October last year. I first visited in 2014, durin

The Reform UK leader’s ruse to head off scrutiny by forcing a byelection may work, but it’s all about him: no one else gains anything from it

Most people who closely follow British politics probably know the basics about Jaywick, an enclave of Clacton, on the Essex coast. A sprawling tangle of tracks, paths and old holiday shacks repurposed as permanent homes, it has been ranked as England’s poorest area several times since 2011, most recently in October last year.

I first visited in 2014, during the byelection campaign that would see the former Tory Douglas Carswell – remember him? – chosen as the UK Independence party’s first MP. “Look at us,” one man told me. “We’re a backwater no one gives a shit about.” He was one of many Nigel Farage fans I spoke to; in 2024, when local people elected the Reform leader as Clacton’s new MP, many presumably did so with hopes of Jaywick’s neglect coming to an end. I suspect, unfortunately, that Farage’s extra-parliamentary earnings and international gallivanting have rather been giving them the impression that Jaywick remains a backwater no one gives a shit about.

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