Yeah, I know that we don’t normally do politics, but there is some amusement to be had,
The MP for the English constituency of Clacton has thrown a hissy-fit and resigned from parliament, in order to stand in a by-election. All the major parties have decided not to put a candidate up, so the contest is look as though it is going to be:
Nigel Farage vs. Count Binface
The latter can be seen in this picture from the Makerfield by-election.
British politics make less sense to me than American politics most of the time, but I’d vote for the trash can.
It’s not entirely clear which candidate you’re talking about 
I read that Sergeant James Hathaway , um, Laurence Fox is also running as a candidate in the election.
I had heard that he was going to run. He is, err, somewhat to the right of Nigel Farage…
Nigel is seeking public validation after doing crimes. He was right to resign. Was he right to run again? Elections anywhere are not cheap. He and his criminal financiers are going to be answerable for this no matter where he goes.
POV: Very proudly represented in the US House by Ms. Zoe Lofgren (D, 18th District of California), twice an impeachment manager against the Trump presidency.
Is there a legal/political rational for the major parties not standing up candidates?
Admiral Ackbar: It’s a trap!
Farage is under parliamentary investigation for receiving a £5 million “gift” and not declaring it. It would seem that he thought he could get out of the investigation by resigning and then standing for re-election. The other parties declared a stunt in which they wanted no part.
As a result, Farage has been left with a large amount of egg on his face. If he is re-elected, the investigation will restart where it left off, and the whole escapade will simply be labelled a farce.
If he is beaten by a bin (current UK polling is 33% to Count Binface and 21% Farage) then it may lead the demise of “Reform”, since it is essentially a one-man show. There are other Reform MPs, but you rarely see them out in public or giving press conferences.
The only legal aspect is the arcane method of leaving parliament (cf. The Chiltern Hundreds) which is administered by the chancellor. When she was asked if she was going to allow Farage’s application, she replied, “Yes, if want to spend the summer arguing with a bin, who am I to stop him”.
Got it. This is the part I missed. I was under the impression that the investigation and (potential) legal penalties regarding the gifts applied even if he was no longer in parliament.
So the calculus was: boycott, let him win (because who would ever vote for Binface…lol), and once the penalties are locked in have an election?
I wonder if there will be a quiet push by the parties to get their members to vote Farage should it look like Binface (or other candidate) might win.
The other way around, I would have thought. As I said, there is a chance that the party will simply implode if Farage disappears. He started UKIP and the Brexit party, neither of which still exist.
He also seems to have paid 50k pounds of rent to himself… Extraordinary money laundering 
But I would bet that Farage will be around, possibly with yet another party.
AFAICT it is a House of Commons Code of Conduct violation, not a criminal matter.
All politics aside, from over here it appears like he’s involved in the criminal evasion of restrictions on donations, and probably in a criminal conspiracy to do so, being the beneficiary of a criminal money-laundering scheme, all within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan police.
Depends where the money is, don’t forge that he is in receipt of a pension from his time as an MEP.
I understand that criminal inquiries are taking place.
The comparison event might be partygate.
As a result of this and other actions by Farage, there is a move to put a cap on political donations, this would reduce Reform funding by 85%.
The interesting question is, what would it do to the finances of another RW party, Restore Britain? This makes Reform look “woke”, and seems to be in receipt of funding from Elon Musk.
One is a stunt candidate with no sensible policies. The other is Count Binface.
To make it even more OT.
In the 1980s, I lived within the constituency of Tatton. Its MP, Neil Hamilton, had to resign his seat because he was taking money using the crypto-currency of the day, i.e. used notes in brown paper bags.
At the by-election, all the major parties stood down in favour of a single candidate, namely Martin Bell. Now, the constituency was one of those where people would vote for a turnip if it was painted the right colour (blue in this case), but Bell won convicingly.
he did well on the today program
If anybody falls for the dodgy air conditioner adverts on YouTube though having watched it , I wonder which candidate will get the financial backing from the fraudsters
