Locals in Clacton reveal whether they are STILL backing Nigel Farage… and what they think of Reform’s VERY bitter civil war_Nhy
Nigel Farage’s very public spat with Rupert Lowe has been gleefully hailed by some as the beginning of the end for the Reform Party.
After a meteoric rise saw five MPs elected in 2024, Reform was seen as the major threat to the Tories and to a lesser extent, Labour.
But now the civil war waged by two of their most high profile players threatens to tear the party apart.
Instead of secret discussions in the corridors of power – bitter accusations have flown back and forth on social media like the furious falling out of two footballers wives.
Tempers flared after Lowe was suspended over allegations of bullying staff – allegedly threatening party chairman Zia Yusuf with violence.
However, he hit back against the claims and said he had been given the boot because he dared to criticise Mr Farage’s leadership, accusing him of acting like a ‘messiah’.
Then this week the former Southampton FC chairman said party chiefs had attempted to ‘silence’ him over ‘Pakistani rape gangs’.
Farage called the claims ‘monstrous’ and later added that there was ‘no way back’ for the MP.
But while Westminster has been rocked by the Reform rollercoaster and rivals are busy feasting on what they see as the remains of a dying party – what do voters in the party’s new constituencies think?
MailOnline visited Clacton-on-Sea to find out…
Pictured: Nigel Farage giving a speech on Clacton pier as he rallied for support in the lead up to the election
Reform’s five MPs arriving at the House of Commons in July last year. Farage (second left) is stood beside MP Rupert Lowe (middle) who has now had his whip suspended
Clacton is one of the five constituencies where the populist party won seats in the election
The seaside resort was once a thriving destination popular among British holidaymakers, but now often ranks as one of the UK’s most deprived spots.
A walk down the main square on a Tuesday afternoon was deafeningly quiet, with the handful of high street shops that are dotted around lying largely empty.
Below Reform’s old HQ, where Farage plotted his triumphant ascendency, stands one of the last remaining amusement parks in the town.
Jonathan Embery was stood outside Gaiety Amusements on his break as he spoke to MailOnline about his views on Reform’s deepening crisis.
The 46-year-old said: ‘What goes on within their party is for them to sort out.
‘It’s not for anyone else to say. They’ve got their rules and regulations to abide by.
‘It’s not good for anybody when there’s infighting and certain things going on, but it’s the same with every party, they’ve all got it.
‘Labour have had their things going on over the last few years.
‘They’re all normal people, they all make mistakes, they say the wrong stuff, we’ve all done it. It doesn’t really change my opinion of the party.
‘I think Reform will be good for the country.’
Jonathan Embery, 46, has lived in Clacton all his life and believes Farage is ‘good for the town’
Mr Lowe has found himself in a bitter row with Farage as he accuses the party leader of launching a ‘vindictive witch hunt’ against him
Pictured: Reform’s old office, which sits above arcade Amusements Gaiety. Beside the claw machines is a blue door that leads up to the former Reform HQ
According to polls, the party has risen in popularity every month since the summer election when it won nearly 15 per cent of the vote share.
In fact, a YouGov poll last month saw Reform overtake Labour on voting intention for the first time.
Clacton was one of the five seats that were secured by Reform in the July election, with the party winning 46 per cent of votes in the constituency.
And while a recent survey seems to suggest support for the party has waned by two points since the row broke out, a chat with locals indicate they are more concerned about potholes being fixed than inner-party spats they are disinterested in.
On his opinion of Reform, Mr Embery continued: ‘My opinion having spoken to him [Farage] has changed.
‘He used to have an office upstairs here when he was running for election last year, and I was having a chat with him one of the days.
‘I think he’s good for the town, very good for the town.
‘He seems to be making a presence as well.
‘Our last MP, Giles Watling, didn’t see the bloke in the whole term he was in. Never seen him in and around the town.
‘I’ve seen Nigel floating around the town most weekends.
‘It’s the presence, that’s what you want to see from an MP. You want to see work getting done.
‘There was a stretch of road entering into Clacton that was like a minefield. And it was one of the main routes into Clacton. There were some proper potholes.
‘Straight away, Farage got it done. It sat there for a year, but he comes into power and straight away it’s fixed.’
Farage waving to constituents in Clacton, where he went on to win 46 per cent of the vote share
A view of life in the centre of Clacton
Speaking about Reform’s popularity, he said: ‘I can see him winning the next election without a doubt, but first and foremost he’s got to get people on side, and to do that especially around here, you need to clean up the town.
‘This town, I grew up here, and this town used to thrive. Now, it’s a bit dead and I think a lot of that is to do with the powers to be. It used to be a fun town. I loved Clacton.
‘Now you’re walking around this town and you’re seeing rubbish everywhere, and it’s just run down.
‘But I think Nigel is good for the town. He’s just down to earth.
‘He’s not how everyone thinks he is. Everyone thinks he’s a racist and he’s not.
‘He just wants to think of our people first, the people that have grown up here, the servicemen who are sleeping on the streets, he just wants to do something about it at the end of the day.
‘He wants us to grow and get better as a country. Which I think is what we all want really.’
The row between the two politicians looks set to escalate as it is understood Mr Lowe is consulting lawyers over libel action, as he accuses Mr Farage of unleashing a ‘vindictive witch hunt’ against him.
Since having the whip removed last week, Mr Lowe has claimed he’s being ostracised by Mr Farage for questioning his leadership.
However, the Met Police have confirmed they are investigating alleged threats made against the chair Mr Yusuf.
Reform also maintains that it had received evidence of ‘serious bullying’ and ‘derogatory’ remarks made about women at Mr Lowe’s offices, with two female employees having made complaints.
Sat in the main square, Martin Rapley, 67, who has always lived in Clacton, said: ‘I voted Reform and I think it’s sad that they’ve got this infighting.
Martin Rapley, 67, says he voted for Reform and worries the infighting could lead to the downfall of the party
The blue door beside the arcade’s claw machine leads to the former Reform office which sits above the arcade. There is now a for sale sign put up
Pictured: The Free House Wetherspoons, outside which a milkshake was thrown at Mr Farage during his campaign trail last year
‘I think it might be their downfall if they don’t sort it out.
‘They are so few of them anyway, should there be infighting?
‘The Labour party, 80 of their MPs are sort of turning against them, on benefits cuts, but there are hundreds of them so it doesn’t matter.
‘But when you have five MPs and there is a problem, it just makes for a bigger problem.
‘I voted for them because of what they stand for. Plus I think a lot of people just between Tories and Labour, and nothing ever changes does it?
‘It’s just one or the other, and I suppose Reform is something different.
‘It might turn out disastrous in the end I don’t know, but it’s just to stir it up a bit.’
Asked about Farage’s performance so far, he said: ‘It’s a bit early to tell but the one thing is he seems to be around a lot, which the previous MP, Giles Watling, wasn’t. He seemed a bit distant from the people.
‘People call Reform racist, but I think people throw the word racist around a bit.
‘It seems to be their answer to everything, “oh you’re just racist” and that’s it, that’s their conversation over.
‘I worry about the number of people, I don’t care about where they come from or whether they’re born here or whatever, it’s just the population is getting bigger.
Mr Farage arriving at the House of Commons with MP Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and Mr Lowe
Farage rallying up support in Clacton prior to the election
Colin Bottle, 64, says he just wants the MP to do the ‘little things’ such as fixing potholes and is not affected by internal party rows
‘We don’t have a housing crisis, we have a population crisis.
‘And that causes a lot of problems, there aren’t enough schools, the NHS can’t handle all the people. It’s the sheer number of people.
‘So I’m not necessarily against people coming over on boats, I just think there is a population problem.
‘I’m a wildlife person, and that’s my main thing. And the more people there are, the more land they take, the more habitats are destroyed.
‘So, you know the million and a half houses and the 100 new towns they want to build eventually, they’ve got to go somewhere and it’s going to be on wildlife habitats a lot of it.’
While a stroll down the once-thriving seaside resort of Clacton shows there is a clear divide in support for the party, one thing constituents seemed to agree on was their concern for local issues such as potholes over interest in internal party rows.
Colin Bottle, 64, grew up in Romford, also in Essex, but moved to Clacton for retirement.
While he does not support Reform, commenting on the crisis he said: ‘You get that all the time though, with Labour too.
‘You take it with a pinch of salt.
‘But you just want the basics and that. I’d like them to stop digging up the roads and fix the potholes everywhere.
‘I live alone and just a nice easy life is all I want.
‘No one is going to make a lot of difference, you just want little things being done.
Liberal Democrat supporter Adam Cardy said that Farage was hardly ever in the constituency and has been in ‘America more than here’
Residents said Clacton was once ‘thriving’ but is now ‘run down’ and struggling with poverty
‘Farage doesn’t see that, the only time you hear about him is when he appears for a big thing, or when he gets off to see his mate Donald Trump, and you think “well, what’s that got to do with Clacton”.
On his views on Farage, he continued: ‘It’s pointless.
‘He just comes and goes, he’s only here for the limelight.
‘Give it two or three years he won’t be here.
‘I’m not sure that Farage knows what sort of town this is.
‘He’s not the sort of person you’d associate with Clacton, you’d need more of a commoner type person.
‘Farage, he just likes the headlines and the clickbait.
‘There are a lot of people on benefits here. And Farage is a multi-millionaire, he’s a bit far removed from knowing what the people want.
‘It tends to be that he sticks with his far-right, where everyone goes a bit too far.’
Meanwhile, taxi driver and staunch Liberal Democrat supporter Adam Cardy had just one point he wished to make.
‘I am not a Farage fan, I’m a Liberal Democrat, always have been, and as far as I know, Nigel Farage has been in this town about three times.
‘He’s in America more than he’s been here.’
Grace Izzard, 18, and Jack Brown, 19, said they hardly follow politics as they don’t feel like they can trust any of the parties or politicians
A recent YouGov survey seems to suggest support for Reform has waned by two points since the row broke out. Clacton is one of Reform’s five constituency areas
An overhead view of the memorial gardens along Clacton pier. The town, which used to be bustling with holidaymakers, lay empty
Comparatively, younger generations expressed they were feeling increasingly disillusioned by politics, regardless of the party, and preferred to stay clear of it altogether.
Speaking to MailOnline Grace Izzard, 18, said: ‘To be honest with you I don’t really care.
‘I don’t do politics, I don’t watch the news, anything I see is on Instagram and that’s all fake anyway. It’s just not worth knowing.’
Jack Brown, 19, chimed in: ‘There’s always going to be two sides to the story, like with Farage he might say one thing and then do the other.
‘I think all political parties are in it for one reason only, it’s just to line their own pockets.
‘Either way I think that the system is designed so you are always under somebody else.’
Pointing around the square, he said: ‘If you look around, I think everyone here is for Nigel Farage.
‘It’s because of what he says about migration.
‘I think that’s one of the only reasons why.
‘In a way, I do understand where he’s coming from with migration, especially with how over the top it is, but it doesn’t really affect my day-to-day life.
‘I didn’t vote at all. I don’t like Keir Starmer, which I think is pretty self explanatory.
‘They’ll say one thing, and then potentially they won’t even do it, or do the opposite.’
The pair said they both saw no point in voting in the last election.
Ms Izzard added: ‘You just can’t trust them, and there’s no point if there’s no trust.
‘As soon as I get the chance, I’m leaving the UK,’ Mr Brown remarked.
