It was a few days before the general election when Arjun* was targeted in the seaside resort of Clacton-on-Sea. “I was with my friends … we were laughed and giggled at. They said: ‘What are you doing here?’ So I ignored it,” he said. “They picked on us because we looked different to everybody else.”
Arjun moved to the Essex town more than six years ago after growing up in the East Midlands. He described feeling “happy” living and working in the area but is now fearful, speaking to the Guardian anonymously due to concerns he could be harassed again.
Reform UK soared to success in the general election, winning more than 4m votes and securing five parliamentary seats across the country, including Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, and South Basildon and East Thurrock in Essex.
After seven failed attempts to secure a parliamentary seat, Nigel Farage won in Clacton-on-Sea with more than 21,000 votes and said he hoped to build a “mass movement” where Reform would fill the “gap” in the centre-right of British politics.
But, for some members of minority communities in the constituencies, the election of Reform has provoked a sense of concern and dread.
In the lead-up to the election, the party was criticised over alleged racist and homophobic comments by campaigners, with some candidates dropped over offensive remarks. Reform politicians blamed this on vetting failures, as Farage insisted the “bad apples” were removed from the party and he denied “fanning the flames” of prejudice.
“I was afraid after the election to go out,” Arjun said. “There has been quite a few racist attacks … I do feel [more] scared than before the election.” When asked whether he would feel comfortable approaching his local MP, Farage, he responded: “No … in the interviews, I feel he is not friendly to multi-ethnic people.”
Arjun said he had experienced abuse in the seaside town before the election, including one incident last year when he was called a racist slur while celebrating Eid, but said he now felt a heightened sense of fear, highlighting the comments made by a Reform candidate who reportedly compared Islam with the Nazis.
A Muslim constituent in Great Yarmouth, who did not want to be identified, echoed Arjun’s concerns and said there was “despair and anger” following the election results. The woman, who has lived in the constituency since 1972, said the results had “empowered” people to express racist views.
A Kurdish owner of a barbershop in Clacton, Rawa Ahmad, said he would not mind speaking to Farage and his customers often discussed their support of the Reform party with him. “All Nigel was talking about was immigration, stopping the boats, he didn’t talk about other things,” he said. “England is facing big problems, immigration is not the only problem … inflation, rent, bills, everything.”
Farage, who successfully spearheaded calls for Britain to leave the EU, has long called for a reduction in immigration, putting the debate at the heart of Reform’s campaign and describing the 2024 poll as the “immigration election”.
However, Ahmad, 32, challenged the party’s claims about immigration, saying that he and others were creating jobs in the area. “I created three jobs, I’ve got friends down the road, he created four jobs,” he added.
Zubaer Choudhury, 47, a delivery driver who has lived in Clacton for seven years, said he hoped Farage would implement change in the area and improve integration between different communities. “People here are so fed up because nothing has been done … so I think he will do the best and obviously, the majority of people vote for him, that’s why he’s been elected.”
Ian Pierson, who has lived in the town since birth, questioned whether Farage was using the area as a way to re-enter politics. “We’re waiting to see what his actual achievements in Clacton are going to be because I do think at the heart of it, he has his own concerns about himself rather than the community,” Pierson, 65, said.
For members of the LGBTQ+ community in Great Yarmouth, where Rupert Lowe won for Reform, the fears are also apparent. Andrew Livingstone, the deputy chair of Great Yarmouth and Waveney Pride, said: “His campaign was very aggressive on social media in terms of promising the world and playing to that anti-immigrant and anti-trans kind of lobby.” He added that it would be “hard” for members of the LGBTQ+ community to approach Lowe if they wanted to raise an issue.
“I think Great Yarmouth had been such a big leave area with Brexit. I think the fact that people are quite vocal about immigration, the Reform party played very well into a section of the community,” Livingstone added.
The chair of Reform, Zia Yusuf, said “unfair and inaccurate characterisations” of Farage and the party had “led people in vulnerable communities to feel this way”.
Yusuf added: “I can tell you from my own experience that these characterisations are false. Nigel Farage and the rest of the party want to stand up for and deliver for British people of all backgrounds.
“The party drew support from 4 million voters, with all types of minority groups represented. British values are precious and should be celebrated.”
* Not his real name.
• This article was amended on 19 July 2024 to remove a picture which was not of Zubaer Choudhury as the caption stated.
