Get this guy a megaphone and a soapbox – because this point needs to be heard far and wide. Giles Watling, the previous MP for Clacton up until 2024, has hit out at Nigel Farage and accused him of ‘creating the small boats issue’ that the Reform leader so vehemently campaigns against.
Nigel Farage wins – but the numbers are far from reassuring
Farage, for a while, was all smiles on Friday morning. It was confirmed that he had won his own sham by-election, seeing off his nearest challenger in Count Binface. Reform have been lauding the vote share earned by their candidate – but perhaps, in some internal quarters, the joy may be short lived.
Despite all major parties refusing to field a candidate, Mr. Farage only gained around 1,000 more votes than before. The 62.4% of public support he received was noticeably smaller than what most pollsters had predicted, and the novelty candidate in second place took a large chunk of the vote, at 26.7%.
The crowing about a victory for the ‘anti-establishment’ millionaire is likely to wear thin. Now returning as an MP, the Parliamentary Inquiry into Nigel Farage’s £5 million undeclared donation from Christopher Harborne will resume immediately. Some prize, indeed.
Another thing to note is, in the election cycle before Nigel Farage and Reform, Giles Watling earned a more convincing public mandate. The Conservative candidate brought in 72.3% of the vote in 2019. That was against the likes of Labour and the Liberal Democrats, and not an intergalactic bin.
Previous Clacton MP annihilates successor over small boats crisis
Watling was asked about his successor before the results were counted – and he made an incredibly salient point. He ripped into Farage, branding him ‘the most divisive individual in politics’. He also pointed out how the Brexit he campaigned for ended up causing one of the biggest issues facing Britain.
The former MP explained that Farage got what he wanted with his relentless campaigning to exit the EU. And yet, he takes no share of the blame for the small boats issue this has created. By forging ahead with Brexit, the UK was removed from the protections of the Dublin Regulation of 1992.
A rule which previously allowed the UK to return asylum seekers to the first safe EU country they entered…
“I said, even 14 years ago, that Nigel Farage is the most dangerous man in British politics. He has proved to be so. He has caused more division than any other individual over the years. He spent all that time in Europe calling for Brexit, thereby taking us out of the Dublin Regulation of 1992.”
“That legislation meant that any migrant arriving in a European country had to stay there or be returned to their point of arrival. That gave us the small boats problem, and in turn, it gives Nigel Farage succour. It is the most extraordinary, and perhaps in one way, most brilliant policy” | Giles Watling