Why Farage going ‘full conspiracy theory’ is not impressing voters in Clacton

Nigel Farage “went full conspiracy theory” when announcing what he called a surprise by-election to voters there, as one voter in Clacton put it.

A look at local Facebook pages and other forums shows the contest against Count Binface and more than 30 other candidates, which all other main parties boycotted in a “sham byelection”, has not given Mr Farage the full support and recognition he had hoped for in the Essex towns and villages he hopes to represent again.

In his letter explaining why he was calling a by-election, Mr Farage publicly decided not to hold back on his claims that he and his friends were victims of a vast conspiracy involving Labour, the establishment and the media.

In what one voter described as a “self-pitying diatribe”, he wrote: “Since I was elected into a Labor government, their friends in the media and the establishment in this country have done everything they can to destroy me, my family, the party, our donors and the millions of people like you who support us.”

He continued: “They slandered us. They tried to intimidate us. They made life difficult for those around us.”

He claimed that the media/establishment conspiracy “makes it increasingly difficult to provide the security my family needs while simultaneously publishing stories that make security even more necessary.”

In an oblique reference to the controversy he had with Sky News arriving on his doorstep, he claimed his home and family had been “targeted” and said: “Enough is enough!” he said.

But the Reformation UK leader didn’t stop there and instead waded into the weeds of a much deeper conspiracy.

“To make matters worse, the establishment is now trying to rewrite the rules of politics.”

He claimed that attempts to introduce votes for 16-year-olds, attempts to delay council elections in Essex due to local government reorganization and attempts to change donation rules banning foreign donations and cryptocurrency were all designed to “stop Reformation”.

There is no mention of Christopher Harborne, the Thailand-based crypto billionaire, or his £5 million donation to the reform UK leader, which has not been disclosed to parliamentary authorities and the Electoral Commission and is now subject to investigation.

Nor was there any mention of convicted criminal George Cottrell, who was in Clacton during the general election and was part of Mr Farage’s inner circle for more than a decade.

Although the reference to “friends” may refer to “Posh George,” as Mr. Cottrell is known.

But Mr Farage claimed: “Politicians and the media worked together week after week to create negative stories in a bid to remove me as MP. Their aim is to force a by-election to get the people of Clacton to vote against me.”

For this reason, while he claims to want early by-elections, he does not state that another election could be held in the near future in case he is removed from office.

But he concluded: “This is a contest between the people of Clacton and the entire political establishment.”

Mr Farage has found plenty of support for his narrative, from the affluent Frinton in the constituency’s north to the much more socially deprived Jaywick in the south, which has been identified as one of the poorest areas in the UK. But there’s also a lot of pushback.

The founders have been commenting on this online, but not always in the way Mr Farage had hoped.

In a local Facebook group, one voter checked the letter using artificial intelligence.

They said: “Many of the claims are either false or rhetoric masquerading as fact.”

Regarding donations and the postponement of the Essex election, they said: “There is no evidence [they were] specifically targeting the Reformation.”

On Mr Farage suggesting the establishment “can’t beat us fair and square at the ballot box”, they noted: “That’s an opinion, not a fact, and it’s aging badly. The latest Ipsos poll shows Reform’s lead over Labor narrowing sharply.”

They also note Mr Farage’s false claim that the investigation into him was being carried out by a “Labour government” while “the real investigation was being carried out by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commissioner”.

They also noted that Mr Farage’s references to 350 poll leads were “used to imply invincibility at the very moment his lead in the polls was diminishing”.

Another voter’s suggestion received more than 3,000 likes: “MP means missing person. Farage throws the ball for the dogs and we are the dogs.”

There are also concerns that Mr Farage is trying to use Ann Widdecombe’s murder as a weapon.

One voter said, “He even laid a wreath on Ann’s murder to appear on TV, and was caught waiting for the cameraman.”