There is nothing quite like a trip to the seaside on a warm and sunny day in June. The smell of salty sea air is unbeatable, and the sunshine seems to give everyone an extra spring in their step. That was the case last Friday when I took the rattler from London to visit one of Britain’s most nostalgic beach towns. And no, I was not slacking off work; this was a visit to Clacton-on-Sea, which just so happens to be the constituency of a certain Nigel Farage.
Myself and Express Editor-in-Chief Geoff Maynard were there to meet with the Reform UK leader and record a special episode of our weekday news show, the Daily Expresso, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum next Tuesday. The interview, conducted by the brilliant Mark Dolan, took place in Mr Farage’s constituency office right on the seafront and, somewhat bizarrely, at the back of a swanky Greek restaurant. His Clacton HQ was not quite what I had imagined – very corporate, a bit like a hotel business suite, befitting the party’s fabled new “professional” image.
After Farage’s arrival, he had been attending an event at a food bank beforehand, we all had a very jolly chat before recording the interview. Then it was a trip to his “real” constituency headquarters, the Wetherspoon next door. It was here that the Reform boss, supping merrily on a £3 pint of pale ale, was in full political rockstar mode. As we chatted at the bar, person after person after person came up to speak to the country’s most well-known politician and ask for selfies. “It’s great, I love it. What a way to meet your constituents,” he says with a cheeky grin as another fan in an Arsenal football shirt asks for a photo.
The image of Farage drinking pints in the boozer is iconic, but he does confess to me that he has a fridge full of zero-alcohol beer at home. And he admits they taste “quite nice,” although they are mainly for his son to drink if he drives over. Beers drained and goodbyes exchanged with a dozen-or-so pubgoers, Farage then marches over towards Clacton’s famous pier for some photos. All in all, he appeared to be in very good form, relaxed and at ease with the world. He was very generous with his time and was confident of a bold showing for Reform UK in the Makerfield by-election.
Roll forward one week, and as I type out this article in the early hours of Friday morning, Andy Burnham has just triumphed in the north-west constituency. While his victory was not unexpected, the size of it was, as he trounced Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon, by 20%. There will be lots of headscratching in Reform HQ, but the party still remains a dominant force in UK politics. The show moves quickly on, and that show is the fight for the future of the Labour Party. Burnham versus Starmer will dominate in the coming days and weeks, and as ever, I will bring you the inside story next week.
