RECORD BALLOT IN CLACTON

Nigel Farage campaigning in Clacton during the 2024 general election

The main parties may be absent from the Clacton ballot paper, but there will be plenty of candidates for voters to choose from in the August 13 clown show.  In fact, this by-election will have the most crowded ballot paper in British electoral history - a staggering total of 34 candidates.  This eclipses the previous record of 26 candidates, which was set in the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election.  That by-election was triggered in similar fashion by Tory MP David Davis, who resigned his seat and went on to win the resulting by-election.

Nominations for Clacton closed on Friday and the long list of candidates includes no less than 21 independents and the highly unusual presence of multiple candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party - three in fact.  This was in part due to the already comical nature of the by-election, plus there are a few electoral records at stake - it's never been done before and the party leader (Howling Laud Hope) will break the record set by his predecessor (Screaming Lord Sutch) for most by-elections contested.

There are eight small parties standing, some of which we have never heard of, such as Consensus and Everyone is God.  The most prominent among these is Laurence Fox, whose Reclaim Party is standing for the first time since the 2023 Uxbridge by-election.  Fox lost his deposit that night, in fact his party have lost their deposit in every election they have ever contested - which isn't many, as this will be only their fifth outing.

The farcical nature of this by-election is epitomised by the litany of clown candidates standing.  Three Monster Raving Loons aside, we've got candidates calling themselves Joseph 77, Woke Trump Carzee and, of course, the establishment hope Count Binface.  The left-wing comedian who dons the costume was one of the earliest candidates to declare his intention to stand, which led to a media frenzy around him designed to present him as a potential challenger to Farage.  Labour donor Dale Vince offered to fund Binface's campaign to the tune of £180,000, while Andy Burnham said Binface "is carrying the hopes of the nation".

They are all desperate to frame the contest as a straightforward head-to-head, in an attempt to mock Farage and possibly unseat him or in the very least inflict a close call that would be a huge embarrassment to the Reform leader.  Defeat against Clown Binface would be career-ending for Farage and it's not beyond the realms of possibility - more people voted for other parties in 2024 than voted for Reform - and Brits do love a novelty act.  However, with 32 other candidates now in the hat, that possibility is greatly diminished.  It would also be highly unlikely that thousands of Tory voters would back a left-wing clown dressed as a bin.  The Conservatives finished second here in 2024.

No constituency polling has been published as yet, but betting markets strongly favour Farage.  He is currently odds on across the board, with most bookies only offering odds on him and Binface.  It does look incredibly likely that 32 candidates will lose their deposits, which will present the treasury with a tidy sum £16,000.

The full list of candidates is as follows.

Joseph 77 (Ind)

Adham Alkhatip (Forward)

Count Binface (Ind)

Nick The Incredible Flying Brick (Loon)

Tony Cane (Ind)

Woke Trump Carrzee (Ind)

William Clouston (SDP)

Rees Cowne (Ind)

Glenn Cummings (Ind)

Martin Davies (Freedom Alliance)

Andy Erlam (Ind)

Nigel Farage (Reform)

Attieh Fard (Ind)

Laurence Fox (Reclaim)

Tony Francis (Ind)

Robin Green (Ind)

Abi Hookway (Ind)

Howling Laud Hope (Loon)

Stephen Ingram (Ind)

Amy Morris (Ind)

Derrick Morris (Ind)

Martyn O'Brien (Ind)

Michael O'Keeffe (Ind)

Nick Pelas (Ind)

Ketankumar Pipaliya (UK Voice)

Daniel Pocock (Ind)

James Ransley (Consensus)

Gerry Smith (Ind)

Kai Stephens (British Democrats)

John Stevens (Rejoin EU)

Baron Von Thunderclap (Loon)

Pamela Walford (Ind)

Marcus White (Everyone is God)

Marc Wilkinson (Ind)

Clacton 2024 general election result

Nigel Farage (Ref) 21,225 (46.2%) New

Giles Watling (Con) 12,820 (27.9%) -44.0%

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul (Lab) 7,448 (16.2%) +0.6%

Matthew Bensilum (LDm) 2,016 (4.4%) -1.8%

Natasha Osben (Grn) 1,935 (4.2%) +1.3%

Tony Mack (Ind) 317 (0.7%) New

Andrew Pemberton (UKIP) 116 (0.3%) New

Craig Jamieson (Clm) 48 (0.1%) New

Tasos Papanastasiou (Hrt) 33 (0.1%) New