‘Farage doesn’t care about Clacton – but I’ll still be voting for him’

For many voters of the seaside town of Clacton, support for their scandal-hit former MP remains unwavering.

After Nigel Farage resigned on Tuesday following pressure over unregistered donations, several constituents echoed his view that he had done nothing wrong.

As for others, they simply did not seem bothered about the multiple scandals the Reform leader is facing, including that he improperly failed to declare millions in donations before he became an MP.

In what has been dubbed a “political stunt”, his resignation has forced a by-election expected to cost taxpayers around £250k.

Mr Farage has vowed to fight the election and give voters a chance to “stick two fingers up to the establishment”. However all the major political parties are boycotting the election leaving the Reform leader in a battle against space-warrior Count Binface.

The Independent visited Clacton to hear from those who will decide his political fate. It would seem that come voting day, Mr Farage could be heading back to Westminster.

“Every politician is corrupt, it's what you expect,” said Mel Campbell, 78, who supports Reform and its leader.

The Clacton resident has never seen the MP and doesn't feel he has done much for the area since being elected.

He also believes Mr Farage only ran in the seaside town in a bid to get to parliament. “He really doesn’t care about Clacton…He'd never heard of Clacton until it appeared as an opportunity.”

But Mr Farage’s hardline stance on immigration was enough to gain his vote.

Mr Campbell feels Mr Farage’s alleged undeclared donations, including a £5M gift from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, is something that “happens all the time” in politics.

“That's exactly why people are in politics,” he said, adding that Mr Farage was “probably no more [corrupt] than any other politician.”

His wife, Elene Campbell, 79, is also weighing up a vote for Mr Farage, despite not backing him in 2024 or believing he has achieved anything since being elected.

“We need change,” she said, adding: “I think he could be the change.”

Jane Tree, 66, voted for Mr Farage in 2024 because she thought she “might get something I want”.

She believes he had been “trying to make things better for us”, but “had too much opposition” to achieve the change he promised.

“I would have hoped he would have thought about his pensioners, because they worked all their life, and now the government is going to tax them.”

Still, the politician, whom she compares to an “uncle”, has her full support.

“He's independent, he's not any different than anybody else. He's like my uncle, in a nice way.”

Reform supporter Len Brown, 79, believes Nigel Farage was forced to resign because of a parliament that takes “no notice” of him.

He said there was “no issue” with his alleged undeclared donations, adding: “What party doesn’t do anything like that, anyway? They've all got their fingers in the pies.”

Mr Brown felt that Mr Farage had served his constituency well, and wasn’t bothered by a possible second by-election that could be triggered if an investigation from parliament’s standards commissioner concludes with a suspension of more than 10 days for Mr Farage.

Residents Jim and June Jackson agree that the Reform leader should not face any scrutiny over undisclosed donations.

“That was a gift. Why don't people realise that was a gift for him,” Ms Jackson, 74, who once gave Mr Farage “a cuddle”, said.

“He is doing a good job for Clacton, and he is about. I’ve talked to him; he’s a very sociable chap,” Mr Jackson, 76, added.

“Everybody says he's been in America, and he's been here, but we see him here all the time.

“We never see Tory people down here or Labour people down here.”

While Mr Farage has the backing of many residents, one says he has lost his support.

Gary Grant, 60, was outraged over Nigel Farage’s resignation, saying the Reform leader “just doesn’t want to face the music”.

The parcel distribution worker, who voted Liberal Democrats in 2024, said: “He's just throwing his toys out of the pram, that's all he's doing.​ He’s just having a hissy fit.”

Mr Grant was once a supporter of Mr Farage, but now feels Reform is just a party of ex-Tory MPs.​

“When Farage first came on the scene, and he started telling people what they wanted to hear, that's what I wanted to hear. I thought, yes, he's the man we want, this is what we need, but since 2024, he's done absolutely nothing.​”

Reform UK has been contacted for comment.