Polls open in Clacton, as research shows Farage has spent more than £10,000 in byelection – UK politics live

Good morning. In the media, August is known as the “silly season”. With parliament not sitting and many people on holiday, there is less proper news than normal, which means the nonsense stories get (even) more attention than usual. We are almost slap bang in the middle of the month, and today we’ve got a silly season classic in Clacton, where Nigel Farage , the Reform UK candidate, is fighting a byelection in which his main opponent is a joke candidate who dresses up as a dustbin.

Farage is not inherently silly. Few politicians have been more consequential over the past quarter of a century (because he did more than any other single individual to make the Brexit referendum happen); for most of the past 16 months his party has had a big poll lead and he has a very realistic chance of being the next PM; and even if he doesn’t become PM, his hard-right, anti-migrant, crass, crypto-friendly populism will have changed British politics significantly.

But this byelection is rather absurd because it is essentially pointless ; all it will do is postpone, not resolve, the verdict on the financial sleaze allegations that Farage is facing (his alleged failure to properly declare donations, including a £5m gift from a cryptocurrency billionaire).

Voting started in Clacton about two hours ago.

Normally there is not much new to report on polling day. But Politico has published a good story by John Johnston and he reveals that Reform UK has spent more than £10,000 during the election campaign on social media adverts designed to help it see off the threat from Count Binface. Johnston says:

double quotation mark POLITICO analysis of the Reform UK leader’s digital campaign messages shows that Farage has run a twin-track strategy in the seaside seat as polls open Thursday. The two key themes of the digital air war have been painting Farage as a champion for local residents — as well as an insurgent leader harried by the “establishment” machine.

Farage and his party have spent more than £10,000 pushing those messages via ads on Meta’s platforms — which include Facebook and Instagram — in the campaign so far.

Johnston says Farage is the only candidate in the byelection using “paid Meta features to bolster his online campaign”. He says:

double quotation mark Almost £1,000 has been spent on videos of Farage urging local supporters to request the party deliver and install an “I’m with Nigel” garden sign. Meanwhile, around £500 went to ads asking voters to return their postal votes and “send a message to the establishment.”

The largest single sum — between £4,000-£4,500 — was spent on an almost five-minute campaign video in which Farage waxes lyrical about the connection he’s made with local constituents, while claiming his party’s surging success has resulted in the powers-that-be using “foul means” to hamper him.

“Rather than being judged by the political class and the mainstream media, I am going to let you, the voters in the Clacton constituency, make a decision,” he said. “I want you to be my judge, not the political elite.”

There is not much else happening in Westminster politics. But it is a big day for A-level students, with results out this morning. Tom Ambrose is covering that on a separate live blog.

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