quinta-feira, 13 de agosto de 2026
Clacton byelection polls open with Farage up against slew of fringe candidates
Clacton
byelection polls open with Farage up against slew of fringe candidates
Longest
ballot in UK voting history features likes of Count Binface and Howling Laud
Hope alongside Reform leader
Alexandra
Topping Political correspondent
Thu 13
Aug 2026 07.00 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/13/clacton-byelection-polls-open
Polls
have opened in Clacton, with thousands of residents in the Essex seat to vote
in a ballot featuring Nigel Farage and a range of novelty and fringe candidates
led by Count Binface.
The
Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced
a byelection in an attempt to address complaints over a deepening scandal about
gifts he received.
He is
expected to face a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards
watchdog, which was opened in May after the Guardian revealed he had received a
£5m personal gift from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based crypto
billionaire, in April 2024.
Farage
has denied the gift amounted to an inducement to run for office, insisting it
was personal in nature. He has given a series of explanations for the gift,
including that it was for his security and a reward for Brexit.
The
inquiry will look into allegations Farage was financially supported by the
crypto gambler and convicted fraudster George Cottrell, a close friend, after
the Sunday Times reported that Cottrell’s support included security and social
media staff who worked on Farage’s online content in the year before he was
elected.
Reform UK
claimed that was a “baseless and contrived story” and that no parliamentary
rules had been broken.
The
inquiry, which was suspended on 8 July after Farage’s decision to force a
byelection, could restart as soon as Friday if he is re-elected.
If
parliament imposes sanctions for failing to declare the gifts, he may be
removed from the House of Commons and face a second byelection.
All of
the main parties have boycotted the byelection, announcing they would not stand
candidates for a “media circus” and a “vanity project”. Instead, Count Binface,
the self-declared “entirely independent space warrior” created by the comedian
Jon Harvey, stepped into the void.
A record
number of candidates are seeking election, presenting voters with the longest
ballot paper in British electoral history.
Among the
34 candidates on the ballot paper are independents, the actor and rightwing
political activist Laurence Fox and three figures from the Monster Raving Loony
party: Howling Laud Hope, Baron Von Thunderclap and Nick the Incredible Flying
Brick.
As well
as the town of Clacton-on-Sea, the constituency comprises rural villages,
farmland and several seaside towns and villages including Frinton,
Walton-on-the-Naze and Jaywick, which last year was named the most deprived
neighbourhood in England for the fourth consecutive time since 2010.
According
to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the population of Clacton
is older than the average in England. A third of working-age people are
economically inactive, compared with fewer than one in five in the east of
England. Seventy per cent of Clacton residents who voted in the 2016 Brexit
referendum favoured leave.
After
standing in multiple British elections since 1994, Farage was elected to the
Commons as the member for Clacton in 2024. He won the seat with a majority of
8,400, taking 46.2% of the vote. The Conservatives came second and Labour
third.
The
previous record for the largest number of candidates in a constituency election
was held by the Haltemprice and Howden byelection in East Yorkshire in July
2008, which featured 26 candidates. It took place after David Davis resigned
his seat and stood again as a protest over the issue of civil liberties.
The
result may be seen as a benchmark to measure Farage’s relative success in this
byelection. Davis won 72% of the vote in the election – which Labour and the
Lib Dems did not contest – up from 47.5% at the 2005 general election, with a
majority of 15,355.
Farage’s
critics argue that his standing as a contender to be the next prime minister
has taken a serious hit as a result of the byelection, with much of the Reform
leader’s time and energy spent in the Essex constituency.
Last
summer Farage was able to dominate the news agenda while the leaders of other
main parties took summer holidays, helming seven press conferences in six
weeks.
This year
he held his first press briefing on 3 August, his first national press
conference since May. He has not appeared keen to debate with Binface or the
other 32 candidates.
Whatever Happened to English Summers? Scorched Britons Would Like to Know.
Whatever
Happened to English Summers? Scorched Britons Would Like to Know.
With
forecasters issuing a warning for very high temperatures, this summer is on
track to be one of the hottest yet.
Lynsey
Chutel
By Lynsey
Chutel
Reporting
from a hot and dry London
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/world/europe/britain-heat-records.html
Aug. 13,
2026
Updated
2:39 a.m. ET
As
Britons swelter under yet another heat wave, forecasters are warning that a
brutal summer is on course to become the hottest yet.
The Met
Office, Britain’s weather agency, issued an amber warning — the second highest
level — for Thursday in large parts of southeast England.
The
extreme heat has remade summer for a country where many once escaped abroad to
feel the blazing sun on their skins.
“An
English summer is not the same anymore,” said Jacqui Browne, 67, as she sat on
the brown grass of a London park.
On
Thursday, temperatures in London are expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6
degrees Fahrenheit), according to a forecast by the Met Office.
There was
a time when British summers were more temperate and marked by rain, but drought
conditions have left large parts of the country parched.
The
north, for example, is not as cool or green as usual, said Ms. Browne’s sister
Janice Kennedy, 66, who was visiting from there.
“Even up
north it’s quite warm,” Ms. Kennedy said. “Not like down here, but it’s quite
warm up there, as well.”
Some,
like Ms. Browne and Ms. Kennedy, still remember the summer of 1976, when
repeated long spells of hot and dry weather made it the benchmark for hot
summers. Now, that seems almost quaint.
The
summer of 2022 stands out in memory for its intensity. It was then that Britain
recorded a temperature above 40 degrees Celsius for the first time, according
to the Met Office.
“Now it’s
been overshadowed by the last three or four years,” Ms. Browne said.
By the
end of this past July, Britain had already recorded 37 days of extreme heat,
nearing a record set in 1995, when 39 days were recorded, according to figures
from the weather agency.
Even if
the last weeks of August are slightly cooler, the weather is still likely to
break existing records, according to Met Office predictions.
“Another
record-breaking summer now looks increasingly likely for the U.K., following
the second-warmest June and second-warmest July on record, and yet another heat
wave imminent,” Mike Kendon, the Met Office’s senior scientist, said in a
statement this week.
“These
statistics are a clear reminder — if one
were needed — of the stark changes that
we are seeing in the U.K.’s climate,” Mr. Kendon said.
The heat
has persuaded some to rethink how they spend their summers.
“I think
you might find that is a real win for coastal towns,” Mike Jones, 55, said as
he and friends cooled off in a London park. “I think there’ll be more
staycations, too.”
His
friend Caroline John noted a downside.
“When you
go abroad, you have a cocktail and the sea,” she said. “Whereas, in London,
you’re on the tube in the heat.”
The
sweltering subway system is just one example of a region not built for heat,
both agreed. Train lines have buckled in the heat, causing many delays over the
summer.
“We’re
not equipped, are we?” Ms. John, 50, said.
Britain’s
weather agency warned that Thursday’s temperatures could affect heat-sensitive
infrastructure in homes and businesses. And delays on the road and rail were
expected, with potential health and welfare concerns for those stuck on the
road.
The high
temperatures could also lead to health complications for some, especially older
people and those with vulnerabilities.
But for
Anesta Logan, 61, who was in the park with Mr. Jones and Ms. John, the new
British summer is an improvement over the cool ones she grew up with, to say
nothing of the freezing winters.
“The
hotter, the better,” she said. “People are always going to complain.”
Lynsey
Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa,
the Middle East and Europe.


