Farage is currently under investigation for his corruption and wants to substitute that investigation with a by-election. He's good at campaigning, so his intention is to frame it as some sort of public trial.
The other candidates will have two options:
1.) point out Farage's corruption, allowing him to frame it as a politically motivated attack
2.) ignore the scandal, which equates to letting Farage off the hook
There's no doubt he took a page out of Trump's playbook.
Assuming Farage wins his by election the investigation will resume and, after it's completed, he will almost certainly find himself suspended from Parliament for long enough to trigger a recall petition in his constituency, which, assuming it's successful (as it very likely will be) will lead to a further byelection.
That one will be contested by all the other parties, with "Do you want to be represented by someone who's been found guilty of concealing large cash donations from various shady sources?" as a central theme.
The constituency is a weird one (even by the standards of Essex) and the Conservatives are the only other party that stands a chance of winning there, and only then if the Restore party (even further right than Reform) do serious damage to Farage's vote. Farage presumably hoped to wrong-foot everyone by triggering this election before the inquiry is completed, so he could then fight any byelection following his suspension on the basis that his constituents had returned him only a few weeks previously, and this was the established parties refusing to accept their decision.
Now he doesn't get to do that. Instead he contests a non-election, of which the count will be announced with only him and Count Binface standing next to the Returning Officer (and possibly a candidate from the Monster Raving Loony Party, too) and the inquiry will continue regardless, at the end of which he'll face well-prepared opponents with plenty of ammunition at their disposal.
Unless on the night Count Binface surprises us all ....
ETA: Fraser Nelson, a Conservative columnist on The Times (a Conservative newspaper)
Reform UK is starting to look like a globalist version of the establishment it rails against
frasernelson.substack.com
When I made my Ch4 film on Reform UK I focused on its popular support, how it was giving hope to millions who loathed the Labour-Tory duumvirate. But Reform now starting to look like another crooked establishment, who loathe accountability so much, so viscerally, that they call by-elections in protest against it.
Against this, are we really so sure that Count Binface is the joke candidate? He gave a
decent interview to
Sky News. He represents the voter’s right to rebel: to same that some propositions are too absurd to be dignified with normal politics. A by-election held because the local is irritated by scrutiny is exactly such a proposition.
ETA2: Detailed and expert analysis from Sam Freeman, someone I read when I want to know what's going on rather than because I want to read someone being rude about people I don't like.
Why he's in serious trouble and what happens if he quits
samf.substack.com
Evernote Link
