Essex readers share their amusement of Nigel Farage ‘losing’ his local newspaper

Nigel Farage has spent years presenting himself as the voice of the people. But the people reading his own local newspaper appear to have a rather different view.

The Colchester Gazette, which covers local news across Essex, including the seaside town of Clacton, and its sister title, the Clacton Gazette, recently asked readers whether Farage should quit as an MP.

The local news outlet wasn’t exactly coy about the result.

“Essex readers say Nigel Farage should quit as MP in poll,” its headline declared last week.

And the figures made for uncomfortable reading for the Reform UK leader.

More than eight in 10 of the 1,001 people who responded, 818, or 82 percent, said Farage should step down as an MP following investigations into Reform UK’s finances.

Just 177 people, or 18 percent, said he should not, while six were unsure.

The poll also asked whether readers thought Farage would become the next prime minister.

Of the 714 people who answered, 85 percent said no. Just 14 percent thought he would, while nine were unsure.

The Gazette also set out the allegations behind the latest controversy engulfing Reform.

A Channel 4 News investigation by Verbatim Investigations reported that senior Reform UK figures had discussed ways of obtaining support from an American donor that would not be permitted under UK electoral law.

The investigation alleged that a US company paid for three Reform-commissioned polls costing £32,500, while discussions also took place about a proposed £500,000 donation that would have been made via a UK-based son.

Channel 4 reported that the larger payment was never made. Reform denies wrongdoing and has launched an internal investigation.

But perhaps the most entertaining part of the Gazette article for Farage’s critics was the accompanying reader reaction.

One reader argued that investigations into expenses, misappropriation of funds and bribery should apply to politicians regardless of party.

“It just happens that Reform Ltd, its CEO and employees tend to bend the rules more than the other parties and to a much larger extreme, so it makes more exciting reading,” they wrote.

“All parties make mistakes, but Reform Ltd, just can’t help themselves and just don’t learn – they jump from scandal to scandal and it’s always someone else’s fault.”

And then came the social media pile-on.

“When you’ve lost the Clacton and Frinton Gazette…” posted campaign group Leeds for Europe.

One commenter joked: “Can he be an MP while being in jail?”

Another wrote: “The clue here is in the word ‘readers’, which rules out most Reform acolytes.”

“He’s done it once, so he’s had the practice!” said another, referring to Farage’s earlier resignation as the local MP.

“How would anyone notice?” someone else said in reference to the MP’s notorious absence from his constituency.