Nigel Farage has announced he will run as Reform UK’s candidate in Clacton, after previously saying he would not stand in July’s general election.

The former UKIP and Brexit Party leader said he had changed his mind after spending time on the campaign trail, adding he did not want to let his supporters down.

The Essex seat, which was the first to elect a UKIP MP in 2014, has a Conservative majority of 25,702.

Mr Farage also revealed he was taking over from Richard Tice as Reform’s leader for the next five years.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝OPA
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    24 days ago

    Clacton was predicted to be held the Tories, but only by 7%, with Labour in second (according to FT’s poll tracker). Farage standing throws that out completely, it’s safe to say.

    As Douglas Carswell held the seat from it’s creation in 2010 through his being Tory, UKIP (with it being a UKIP win in.the by-election he triggered by detecting and in the 2015 general election) and independent until the Tories won in 2017, it is probably the safest possible seat for Reform in the country and Farage could definitely swing it. It’s demographics trend towards older, white and deprived which is the target for Reform.