photography
St ry behind the
picture The Nigel Farage show had pizzazz – but failed to convince on hopes for Reform By Jess Hurd
08 | theJournalist
He descended Trump-like from the gods in Clacton’s Princes Theatre, flanked by security, the soundtrack of Eminem’s Without Me blasting out. Two pyrotechnic flares exploded as he took to the stage to a standing ovation from a sell-out crowd. This was my first Reform UK general election event and the Meet Nigel
Farage evening had all the pizzazz this depressed seaside town could muster. Clacton has the all-too-familiar appearance of many English coastal resorts – decrepit amusement arcades, abandoned shops, addiction and homelessness, a picture postcard of this austerity and cost-of-living, crisis-ridden country. According to colleagues, this was his most right-wing speech yet on the campaign trail. Buoyed by a YouGov poll putting Reform UK ahead of the Conservatives and flushed with a succession of local Tory councillor defections, Farage stormed in heavy against migrants. He declared them a threat to national security which drew a rapturous roar from the crowd. The demographic of the room was old, white, England tattoos peeking out from under shirts, with a smattering of young Tory types for good measure. Farage boasted of his political revival when he was crowned ‘most sexy
politician’ after deliberately showering naked in reality television show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2023. Outside after the event, I chatted to one Reform UK supporter, originally from Bow in East London. “Do you think he will get in?” he asked. I relayed my colleagues’ observations that Farage did not have much
support on the ground and Reform UK campaign posters were a rare site around town. “It’s a Tory pressure group at the end of the day,” I said. “But they might get a large portion of the Tory vote.” “Labour are still going to get in anyway,” he said nonchalantly.
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