With righteous indignation, Nigel Farage has resigned today as MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election that he intends to fight. He’s giving up his seat in the hope he’ll win it back. Why?
Because he believes it should be ordinary people, not the turbo-smug media classes, who determine his destiny. ‘Why should they be the people that decide my fate?’, he asked, spitting out the word ‘they’ with highly warranted contempt. Only ‘the people of Clacton’ should be ‘the judges of my actions’, he said.
It’s a bold move. For it wrestles Farage’s fate – and the future of populism itself – from the whining and mudslinging of the cloistered media classes and returns it to the cool deliberation of the people. It was in a televised press conference that he made his announcement. His voice quivering with rage, he slammed the media for obsessing over allegedly dodgy donations he received from rich pals. He’d been subjected to ‘constant demonisation by the press’, he said, with the aim of hounding him from public life simply because he gives voice to ‘the consensual view on many issues’. He then disarmed the knife-wielding media plotters, robbing them of their power by inviting the people of Clacton to pass judgement on him instead. It’s clever. And it’s risky.
The media have been sniffing for scandal around Farage for weeks now (well, years). The latest storm involves a £5million donation he received from a cryptocurrency investor in April 2024, before he became an MP, and some financial assistance he received from his longstanding ally, George Cottrell, who once did jailtime in the US for wire fraud. The parliamentary commissioner for standards is investigating the five million quid, which Farage did not declare. The media elites are salivating. Every earthly issue must now play second fiddle to their onanistic obsession with Farage’s ‘sleazy’ antics.
Two things can be true at once. One, Farage may not have followed all the rules on these donations (let’s see). And two, the media fever over the donations is a brazen political crusade motivated less by a love for probity in public life than by an ugly, burning urge to rid British politics of its best-known populist. Watching the scandal-hit Labour Party busily dig the grave of Farage’s career is almost too funny for words. Seeing the media say, ‘This is just about honesty in public life’ is even funnier. They must think we were born yesterday. We can all see the real slogan inscribed on the knives they’re wielding: ‘Finish Farage. Finish populism.’
The media elites spy an opportunity to do with the brute instrument of scandal what their kind have failed to do in the democratic realm: weaken Reform UK. They dream that newspaper headlines and backroom investigations will dent the clout of this party that ‘the gammon’ insist on voting for. It’s a highly anti-democratic endeavour dressed up as an effort to ‘restore trust’. Sadly for them, we’re not as dumb as they think. And Farage has now punctured their fake, bloated virtue by stealing their power to shape politics and giving it back to its only rightful exercisers: the people.
‘I am the most physically and verbally attacked public figure… of modern times’, he said. He reminded us that he’s had milkshakes thrown in his face, placards bashed over his head, death threats. The breaking point, he said, was The Sunday Times allegedly publishing a photo of the house where his daughter lives. He said he’s ‘never been angrier’. And now he’s decided it shouldn’t be milkshaking silver-spoon radicals or those posh hacks still blubbing over Brexit who determine his future – it should be working-class Clacton.
The Clacton by-election will be the anti-Makerfield. That by-election was triggered to bring about a coronation for the King of the North, Andy Burnham, so that he could sweep to power and fix the Labour Party while also enforcing his vision for Britain without the benefit of anything resembling a people’s mandate. In contrast, the Clacton by-election will invite ordinary people to pass judgement not only on Farage but also on the media, on the elites’ use of scandal as a political tool, and on the anti-populist intrigue of the cushioned classes. I, for one, relish the empowerment of the good people of this poor seaside town that Remoaners loathe because 70 per cent of them voted Brexit. Their unjaundiced judgement will be brought to bear on the breathless machinations of the privileged.
The stakes could not be higher. Many – including the bloody media – will strive to dent Farage’s chances. Labour activists will put a peg on their noses and beg the sunburned masses for a vote. It will be rough, and entertaining. And if Farage wins, it might just give the populist ethos the injection it needs. Let’s go. Let the people decide.
Brendan O’Neill is spiked’s chief political writer and blogs regularly on Spiked where this article was sourced.
It’s a bold move. For it wrestles Farage’s fate – and the future of populism itself – from the whining and mudslinging of the cloistered media classes and returns it to the cool deliberation of the people. It was in a televised press conference that he made his announcement. His voice quivering with rage, he slammed the media for obsessing over allegedly dodgy donations he received from rich pals. He’d been subjected to ‘constant demonisation by the press’, he said, with the aim of hounding him from public life simply because he gives voice to ‘the consensual view on many issues’. He then disarmed the knife-wielding media plotters, robbing them of their power by inviting the people of Clacton to pass judgement on him instead. It’s clever. And it’s risky.
The media have been sniffing for scandal around Farage for weeks now (well, years). The latest storm involves a £5million donation he received from a cryptocurrency investor in April 2024, before he became an MP, and some financial assistance he received from his longstanding ally, George Cottrell, who once did jailtime in the US for wire fraud. The parliamentary commissioner for standards is investigating the five million quid, which Farage did not declare. The media elites are salivating. Every earthly issue must now play second fiddle to their onanistic obsession with Farage’s ‘sleazy’ antics.
Two things can be true at once. One, Farage may not have followed all the rules on these donations (let’s see). And two, the media fever over the donations is a brazen political crusade motivated less by a love for probity in public life than by an ugly, burning urge to rid British politics of its best-known populist. Watching the scandal-hit Labour Party busily dig the grave of Farage’s career is almost too funny for words. Seeing the media say, ‘This is just about honesty in public life’ is even funnier. They must think we were born yesterday. We can all see the real slogan inscribed on the knives they’re wielding: ‘Finish Farage. Finish populism.’
The media elites spy an opportunity to do with the brute instrument of scandal what their kind have failed to do in the democratic realm: weaken Reform UK. They dream that newspaper headlines and backroom investigations will dent the clout of this party that ‘the gammon’ insist on voting for. It’s a highly anti-democratic endeavour dressed up as an effort to ‘restore trust’. Sadly for them, we’re not as dumb as they think. And Farage has now punctured their fake, bloated virtue by stealing their power to shape politics and giving it back to its only rightful exercisers: the people.
‘I am the most physically and verbally attacked public figure… of modern times’, he said. He reminded us that he’s had milkshakes thrown in his face, placards bashed over his head, death threats. The breaking point, he said, was The Sunday Times allegedly publishing a photo of the house where his daughter lives. He said he’s ‘never been angrier’. And now he’s decided it shouldn’t be milkshaking silver-spoon radicals or those posh hacks still blubbing over Brexit who determine his future – it should be working-class Clacton.
The Clacton by-election will be the anti-Makerfield. That by-election was triggered to bring about a coronation for the King of the North, Andy Burnham, so that he could sweep to power and fix the Labour Party while also enforcing his vision for Britain without the benefit of anything resembling a people’s mandate. In contrast, the Clacton by-election will invite ordinary people to pass judgement not only on Farage but also on the media, on the elites’ use of scandal as a political tool, and on the anti-populist intrigue of the cushioned classes. I, for one, relish the empowerment of the good people of this poor seaside town that Remoaners loathe because 70 per cent of them voted Brexit. Their unjaundiced judgement will be brought to bear on the breathless machinations of the privileged.
The stakes could not be higher. Many – including the bloody media – will strive to dent Farage’s chances. Labour activists will put a peg on their noses and beg the sunburned masses for a vote. It will be rough, and entertaining. And if Farage wins, it might just give the populist ethos the injection it needs. Let’s go. Let the people decide.
Brendan O’Neill is spiked’s chief political writer and blogs regularly on Spiked where this article was sourced.
13 comments:
Lays down the gauntlet by resigning from a position he already has? This millionaire is not a man of the people.
Totally disagree anon 8.46. He is the only one who is actually speaking up about how 'broken' everything is. He has resigned. How noble. If only politicians did that here, there would be none on the left at all.
You have totally missed the point of what he is doing. Even if he doesnt get back in, his name will be even greater, because of the risk he is taking. He may even lose the battle, but win the war. Lets wait and see.
Also, Just because he has money doesnt mean he not for the people! What a silly remark. Are you suggesting that everyone should be poor? Only a communist would think like that.
He got caught out by not decorating political donations. This is not the sign of a man of the people. If he was a man of the people, he would be transparent. I smell a rat.
Meanwhile the rape gang supporters wonder around freely.
Morality anyone?
Farage is not an agent for change. What are the facts? He has been in mainstream politics since the 1990s. in 2026, he and Reform are a relief valve. They are there to manage the undeniable discontent. But managing is not the same as harnessing for real change.
Farage is not going to do anything to undermine a System in which he has been deeply embedded and reliant upon for 30 years. I don't care what he says from time to time, I only care what he does (and has done for three decades).
My money is on Count Binface. He’s the less sketchy of the two remaining candidates (the other parties are quite rightly sitting out this political stunt).
Haha some right wing politician gets a 5 million pound “donation”, doesn’t declare it, doesn’t apologise, and opinion writer says that the media are the elite? Satire is dead, you can’t top this article.
‘It matters not what he has done, it matters only what he will do’ the US voting public on Donald J Trump in 2024.
I have to assume this piece was written before the Conservatives, Labour, the Green party, Restore Britain and the Lib Dems confirmed that they would not stand candidates to run against Farage. Seems the only challenge will be somebody called Count Binface, described by the Guardian as a "perennial novelty candidate". So much for O'Neill's breathless proclamation that the stakes could not be higher. This by-election is just an expensive non-event.
So, Clacton is struck with Farage until the House of Commons Committee on Standards orders his suspension as an MP for 10 days or more for breaching parliamentary rules. When that happens, only 10% of voters in his constituency need to sign a recall petition for him to lose his seat, triggering another byelection. To quote the Guardian "Given the scale of Farage’s alleged misdemeanours, it’s highly possible he’d receive that level of punishment."
As some from your neck of the woods might say, Jones Boy, "Do me a favour!" You're quoting the Guardian in relation to Farage? What do you think they're going to say??
Never mind which media outlet reports the facts, the facts don't stop being the facts Mr Jorgan. Try addressing the message instead of sneering at the messenger. If you think their conclusion is faulty, tell us why.
The fact that he can quit, trigger an election to replace him (because he quit), then run for the vacant seat (that is vacant because he quit) is bonkers to me.
Lays down the gauntlet by…resigning? By avoiding an investigation into improper declarations of donations? By running against a joke candidate? By moving to one of the least informed and most right leaning electorates in England?
This is one heck of a gauntlet! Not quite the type they had in King Arthur’s time.
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