Nigel Farage to launch General Election campaign in Clacton

Mr Farage will be in the Essex town this afternoon following the news yesterday he will be standing for Reform UK.

In the announcement, it was also revealed he will take over as leader of Reform UK from Richard Tice.

Nigel Farage (left) and former leader Richard Tice at the Reform UK press conference, at The Glaziers Hall in London (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

Following the news, Mr Farage took to social media to reveal he will be launching his campaign in Essex today at Clacton Pier.

In the video, he said: "You might have heard the news, I am standing in Clacton at the election for Reform UK.

"I'm the leader of the party but you know me I have been to your constituency so many times campaigning over the years. Not just in Wetherspoons although a fair bit I do care to admit.

"Now look, you are ignored and despised by the London elites. I know what you believe in.

"Mass immigration has damaged our country. We are getting poorer as a nation. You need a champion to stand up and fight for you. Well tell you what I've got a record of doing that.

"So come and join me at midday by the pier, I will be launching the campaign.

"You will be very welcome. Come and meet me, come and say hello, and come and help me to help you.

"I promise you one thing, I'm going to put Clacton on the map."

The former MEP had spent several days making clear he would not make an eighth bid to become an MP and instead would support Reform by campaigning across the country.

But Mr Farage, who has failed in his previous seven attempts to be elected to the Commons, said he had felt a “terrible sense of guilt” over the weekend and decided to make a U-turn.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Mr Farage said: “Difficult though it is, I can’t let down those millions of people, I simply can’t do it, it’d be wrong.

“So I have decided I’ve changed my mind, it’s allowed you know, it’s not always a sign of weakness, it could potentially be a sign of strength.

“So I am going to stand in this election.”

Nigel Farage during yesterday's press conference (Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

The Conservatives held Clacton in 2019 with a majority of 24,702 in an election in which the Brexit Party, led by Mr Farage, stood down candidates to help then-Tory leader Boris Johnson.

Clacton was the scene of a Ukip by-election win in 2014, triggered by Douglas Carswell’s defection from the Tories.

Mr Carswell held the seat in 2015 before the Tories regained it in 2017.

Mr Farage’s most recent attempt to become an MP took place in South Thanet in 2015. The then Ukip leader finished second behind the Tories, who secured a 2,812 majority.

Elsewhere, a new YouGov poll said Labour is on course for the biggest election victory in history, beating Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.

The poll, using the multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) technique and carried out for Sky News, suggests that Sir Keir’s party is on course to win 422 seats, with the Tories down to just 140.

So far, four other parliamentary candidates will be standing in Clacton.

Mr Farage will be going up against Giles Watling (Con), Jovan Owusu-Nepaul (Lab), Matthew Bensilum (Lib Dem) and Natasha Osben (Grn).