CLACTON BY-ELECTION: CAN NIGEL SNATCH TRIUMPH FROM DISASTER?
Farage’s by-election gamble has gone horribly wrong. But he can still turn it around and make this a success for Reform. But ONLY if he reads this guide.
BRITISH PATRIOT’S SUBSTACK
In January, Dominic Cummings, a man who has experienced from the inside how the dark forces of the establishment work, predicted that these would be used to destroy Nigel Farage. He said that they would “smash the absolute living shit out of Farage, and make sure that he doesn’t win, by fair means and foul. They will leak medical records. They will leak tax records. They will bug his phone and leak that. They will do anything that they need to”.
And so it came to pass, with the police leaking Farage’s bank details to the media, who then tried to pretend that there was some sort of ‘scandal’ or indeed ‘corruption’ attached to the gifts he had received. There is absolutely no proof of any such criminality but despite the lack of any prima facie evidence, the allegations have been relentless. And false. Just the other day (7 July), on Sky News, the LibDem leader Ed Davey said: “It’s clear he’s [Farage] been found breaking the rules”. But this is not true. NO finding of any kind has been made at this point. But of course the journalists failed to correct this clear slander.
So instead of just allowing himself to be a whipping boy Nigel Farage decided to go on the attack and called a by-election to prove his democratic legitimacy. But this is only half the story. The fact is that Reform’s support has been slipping for some time. A year ago they were getting over 30% in the polls, now they are often getting below 25%. Yes, they are still the most popular party, and yes, they are doing well in local elections, but it no longer looks like they would get an overall majority in parliament. I was the first to highlight this problem, and you can read my brilliantly insightful article here:
https://britishpatriot.substack.com/p/is-reform-on-the-slide
It’s been reported that internal Reform advisers have woken up to this problem and have been telling Farage that he needs to do something to grab the agenda. And remember that he has a track record of using the summer, when all the other parties and politicians go on holiday, to take control of the media headlines. So it is probable that this by-election was Farage’s attempt to seize the initiative. But it then all turned to farce, as the Tories, Labour, the Greens and even the LibDems all announced they would boycott the by-election.
Surprisingly, given his knowledge of politics and history, this took Farage by surprise. As the Telegraph reported: “the Reform leader admitted he had been wrong-footed by the parties all refusing to challenge him. Asked whether he had considered the possibility of being the only serious candidate, Mr Farage told the Daily Mail: “No, of course not. Why would they [not contest]? It’s a real election.” But this was, in fact, completely predictable. In 2008 the Conservative MP Sir David Davis resigned from parliament and triggered a by-election in his Haltemprice and Howden seat, declaring he would stand again – always as a Conservative – in protest against the erosion of civil liberties. And what happened? The opposition parties (Labour and the LibDems) simply refused to stand. For Nigel Farage to have forgotten this was a serious tactical error.
The Uniparty and the media are now trying to mock Farage and are claiming that he will just be fighting against a bin, but this is also nonsense. Again, look what happened in 2008. Although none of the major opposition parties stood, a plethora of other candidates did, from a range of independents (including David Icke) to the National Front, from the Greens to the English Democrats, and even my personal favourite, the delectable Gemma Garrett, standing for the Miss Great Britain Party. She certainly had a couple of great arguments in her favour! And in Clacton there will also be a number of other parties standing, from the serious (such as the British Democrats) to the loonies (and I’m referring here to the ‘Rejoin the EU’ fanatics).
Incidentally, as an interesting aside, the Labour donor and left-wing eco-nutcase Dale Vince has said he will fund Binface. This will backfire as he will no longer be seen as just a comic character but the left-wing candidate, and Reform can (though I doubt they’ll have the nous to do so) highlight the fact that Vince donated some £6 million to Labour and his energy companies then received over £123 million in government subsidies. But obviously there’s no government or Labour ‘corruption’ here! And here’s a second interesting aside: in 2008 the Labour Culture Secretary criticised David Davis saying the by-election was a waste of public money and Davis should pay this himself. On this occasion Reform have offered to pay for the cost of the by-election but this has been refused by Labour. Oh, and who was the Labour Culture Secretary in 2008? None other than Andy Burnham!!
Clearly however Farage is now on the back foot and his gamble does not look as if it will pay off. His opponents are going to push two lines of attack: (i) the by-election is a farce and Farage looks ridiculous, and (ii) this is all an attempt to deflect attention from the real story, which is a ‘sleaze scandal’.
Reform – and the surprisingly feisty and effective media performer Robert Jenrick – are trying to turn the ridicule onto Labour and the Tories, saying they have “chickened out” of the election; it is obviously undeniable true that if these parties thought they could have beaten Farage then they would have stood. They didn’t stand because they didn’t want to be embarrassed and don’t respect the people of Clacton enough to offer them the opportunity to vote for them. Reform should make this their line of attack, adopting a very aggressive visual message, claiming that Badenoch and Burnham are ‘spitting in the face of the people of Clacton‘ and have no right to ever stand there again.
Given that there is every prospect of a second by-election in the not-too-distant-future, should the standards committee rule against Farage (as is likely, given that this is a kangaroo court) and then suspend him for at least 10 days (as they surely will). This would prompt a recall petition that could trigger a by-election if enough constituents signed it (which they probably would). So getting the message out that the Tories and Labour have forfeited the right to ever stand in Clacton again would be a very useful way for Reform to get on the front foot for the next campaign!
But this does not answer the central question: how can Nigel Farage turn this political farce into an event that will boost Reform’s support throughout the country?
And here’s the answer: turn the campaign into a series of big rallies with radical new policy announcements each time. Force the media – and the other parties – to discuss the policy proposals, thus burying the ‘sleaze’ and ‘Binface’ nonsense. To do this Farage will need a rally every two days – this being how long any new proposals will remain the big story. And the policy announcements must be populist and very controversial.
Let me give you a few examples so that you can better understand what I am suggesting.
Morning of Day 1: announce the legalisation of pepper spray for self-defence. Reform spokesmen then tour all the news studios defending this, pointing out that this is perfectly normal both in Europe and America, that pepper spray is non-lethal, that currently nobody can defend themselves from knife-wielding criminals, and that this policy will save lives. This is then the main story in all the papers on Day 2.
Morning of Day 3: announce an increase in the motorway speed limit to 80 mph. Reform spokesmen then tour all the news studios pointing out that this (130 kph) is the norm in most EU countries (like France and Italy) while other countries have even higher limits (140 kph in Poland) or no limit at all (some German motorways). Argue that British drivers should not be treated as inferior to European drivers. And also announce that all 20 mph zones will be abolished and 30 mph will be the minimum speed limit. This is then the main story in all the papers on Day 4.
Morning of Day 5: announce that a Reform government will not only sack the current Chief Constables of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and the West Midlands Police, but also confiscate their pensions. Why these Chief Constables, you may ask. Because these are the areas where (i) the White youth Henry Nowak was arrested (and subsequently died) despite having been the victim of a stabbing by a coloured aggressor, and (ii) the White youth Cody Harper was arrested (and called a “dick” by the arresting WPC) despite having been the victim of an assault by two coloured aggressors. Both are egregious cases of police anti-White discrimination. Reform spokesmen then tour all the news stations saying that anti-White discrimination and two-tier policing is rife and Reform will end it. This is then the main story in all the papers on Day 6.
Morning of Day 7: announce that Reform will ban non-stun slaughter and the sale of any such imported meat. Reform spokesmen then tour all the news studios saying that this slaughter is cruel and barbaric, and cannot be tolerated in a civilised country of purported animal lovers. They also point out that Britain is being shamed by the many other countries around the world that ban non-stun slaughter, from Norway to New Zealand and from Sweden to Switzerland – and this policy is therefore perfectly reasonable and ‘respectable’. This is then the main story in all the papers on Day 8.
I could go on, but you probably get the idea. But have you noticed a few important threads that run through all these policy proposals? Let me explain.
Firstly, they are all FREE. They won’t cost the government anything. This is vitally important as Reform’s opponents (especially the Tories) keep trying to claim that Reform are not economically credible and their sums don’t add up and they would be too profligate. Well, none of those accusations could be made in relation to any of these proposals.
Secondly, while all these policies are controversial – and would therefore be guaranteed to capture the news agenda – they are also popular with the public. They would definitely boost Reform’s support throughout the country. These policies would certainly appeal to those disgruntled and disillusioned former Reform supporters who view Nigel Farage as “weak sauce” and who have switched to Restore.
And thirdly, these policies expand Reform’s policy agenda beyond just immigration control. Reform must not be seen as a one trick pony. They need to show that they have a wide range of popular policies.
So there you have it. This is the way for Nigel Farage to capture the news agenda and turn a fiasco into a political triumph. But will he do this? To be honest, I doubt it. He never listens to advice and cannot see that he needs to adopt new and imaginative policies, and that he needs less political caution and more controversy – but of the right, populist kind.
If you meet Nigel wondering the streets of Clacton, do pass this message on to him!
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This article (CLACTON BY-ELECTION: CAN NIGEL SNATCH TRIUMPH FROM DISASTER?) was created and published by British Patriot’s Substack and is republished here under “Fair Use”
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