Share

cover art for Farage beats the bin! – Clacton results unpacked

Coffee House Shots

Farage beats the bin! – Clacton results unpacked

Shock horror: Nigel Farage has won the by-election in Calcton. Although you may be shocked by the scale of the victory. 

The Reform leader received 22,239 votes – 1,000 more than his total at the 2024 general election. His main rival, Count Binface – the ‘uniparty candidate’ as Farage says – secured a respectable 9,455 votes, a 26.7 per cent share.

Turnout stood at 44.37 per cent, the constituency’s lowest since 2010, but still pretty good for a by-election and such an unusual one at that. 

But the big questions remains: did Farage get what he wanted out of this by-election? Or is this the farcical end to an undignified episode in British politics? 

Oscar Edmondson, Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman discuss. 

Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.


For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.


Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

More episodes

View all episodes

  • ‘This is not a war!’ – why politicians are turning on the media | with Gabriel Pogrund

    17:17|
    Politicians are increasingly turning on the journalists who scrutinise them. After investigations into Nigel Farage’s finances, Reform figures have accused reporters of waging a political ‘war’ – while Arron Banks has hired private investigators to look into Times journalist Gabriel Pogrund. Is hostility towards the media becoming a feature of modern politics? And is the relationship between politicians and the press becoming more poisonous?Gabriel joins Oscar Edmondson and Tim Shipman, who writes for the magazine this week about the fraying contract between society and its fourth estate.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
  • Andy's migration muddle & can he fix the High Street?

    13:22|
    Andy Burnham's summer bonanza continues as he announces plans to empower local councils and hopefully improve Britain's High Streets. The government wants to make it easier for councils to refuse certain types of businesses – but is the plethora of vape shops, betting shops and barbers a cause of Britain's High Street decline, or just a symptom? If there are no businesses to replace those, will the public prefer empty shops to those they see as less desirable? Noa Hoffman and Michael Simmons join Tim Shipman to discuss. Plus: the Prime Minister attempts to grip the migration crisis, as small boats numbers rise across the summer – but can he get his facts straight?Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.
  • Clacton by-election: what you need to know

    14:07|
    Nigel Farage is heading back to the polls in Clacton after resigning to trigger a by-election over questions surrounding his £5 million gift. With the main parties refusing to stand, Farage looks set for a comfortable victory – but will his popularity in Clacton translate to the rest of the country? And have voters simply stopped caring about the controversy?Meanwhile, Andy Burnham is facing the first major tests of his premiership. As questions mount over how he will pay for his ambitious domestic agenda, Burnham has intervened again over plans to release prisoners early, insisting that the killers of PC Andrew Harper should remain behind bars. Is his willingness to respond to public pressure a sign of how he intends to govern?Oscar Edmondson speaks to Noa Hoffman and the Financial Times’s Lucy Fisher.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
  • What does Lowe actually want from Farage?

    17:56|
    Nigel Farage is trying to seize the summer agenda with a new crackdown on crime and immigration. Reform wants to send foreign national prisoners to countries such as El Salvador, deploy the Navy in the Channel and leave the ECHR – but how much of the plan could actually work?Meanwhile, hopes of a reconciliation between Reform and Rupert Lowe’s Restore appear to be fading. Farage has ruled out a deal while Lowe remains surrounded by figures he regards as being on the extreme right. Could the continuing split ultimately play into Andy Burnham’s hands?Tim Shipman speaks to Noa Hoffman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
  • 'The Tories remain the existential threat to Labour' – interview with Jonathan Ashworth

    19:59|
    Jonathan Ashworth is a former Labour MP and shadow cabinet minister. On today's podcast James Heale and Jonathan discuss Andy's first few weeks as Prime Minister, how he's changed since the Blair-Brown era, whether Burnham's promises in devolution stack up and they discuss whether Morgan McSweeney is right to change his mind on the Conservatives, rather than Reform being the greatest threat to Labour.
  • Can Burnham make the tough calls on pensions & social care?

    12:50|
    Andy Burnham has made it clear that social care is at the top of his agenda, as are pensions. Michael Simmons is joined by James Heale and Spectator contributor James Kirkup to discuss so called 'death tax', cross party efforts on tackling social care, and whether the government can get round the thorny issue of who will pay for this.
  • Kemi and the Crewkerne debacle

    15:01|
    Kemi Badenoch found herself in warmer water this week after backing a former neo-Nazi to stand as a local council candidate, before he subsequently pulled out – he has now been appointed as an anti-extremism advisor to the Conservative Party's Culture and Integration Commission. Natasha Feroze is joined by The Spectator's William Atkinson, and the former Editor of Conservative Home, Paul Goodman, to reflect on the story, and the wider Keminisation of the Conservative Party, as commented on by James Heale in this week's political column.Produced by Henry Lloyd
  • Why Burnham's borrowing bonanza won't work

    14:05|
    The Treasury has plans to kick start the economy with a £9bn borrowing bonanza – something Michael Simmons wrote about in The Spectator in June. Could this reveal something about Burnaham and Healey's plans for the upcoming budget? Also Ed 'Miliwatt' heads to Washington. How will he get on with his American counterparts? James Heale speaks to Michael Simmons and Isabel Hardman.