Have the Tories given up on Clacton already? HQ closed as Nigel Farage tours town
The Conservative Party's office in Clacton is seemingly shut as Nigel Farage springs into action with his bid to win the seat in the General Election.
The Conservatives' headquarters in Clacton has been closed as Nigel Farage spring into action in the seaside town as he launched his General Election campaign.
The new Reform UK leader toured the town today following yesterday's announcement that he is running in the Essex constituency.
But those in the town may feel the Tories' absence, with current MP Giles Watling’s office in Clacton currently closed.
Yesterday, Farage revealed he is taking over Reform UK as its new leader, having taken the baton from Richard Tice.
He also confirmed a major u-turn and will stand for election in the former UKIP constituency of Clacton, a seat polls suggest he stands a good chance of taking from the Tories despite Boris Johnson winning 70 percent of the vote in 2019.
Mr Farage also pledged to lead Reform UK not just for the election, but for the next five years in a longer-term campaign to become the real opposition to a Labour Government.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice explained why Reform chose Clacton as the seat Mr Farage will be running in.
He told Sky News: "Clacton is the constituency that Douglas Carswell, originally the Conservative MP for the seat, managed to win in a by-election under the UKIP banner - the principal Euro-sceptic party of the time - and then managed to win again in 2015.
"It is one of the most Euro-sceptic parts of the country and given it has voted for UKIP in the past, you can understand why Mr Farage might decide to go there."
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When Mr Carswell was voted in as a UKIP candidate in 2014, Nigel Farage said that Clacton had "shaken up British politics".
The MP became independent in 2017 and did not stand for reelection.
That same year, Giles Wartling won the seat with 72 percent of the vote. The next highest vote percentage was the Labour candidate with just 15 percent.
