‘It’s Wizard of Oz stuff’: Clacton voters divided over Farage byelection

Sam (right), with Paul, at their beach hut in Walton-on-the-Naze: ‘The byelection shines a spotlight on Farage and exposes his motives.’ Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

As Nigel Farage inflicts an August byelection on the Clacton constituency in Essex, local voters are divided over whether they need, or want, to give the Reform UK leader a fresh mandate.

In this self-styled battle between the “establishment and the people” views range from adulatory to sceptical to outright cynical over a contest that all mainstream parties are boycotting, leaving Count Binface and Laurence Fox as Farage’s only potential rivals.