Clacton election candidate Tony Mack on why he wants to be next MP

Ahead of the General Elections on July 4, we spoke to the candidates standing in the Clacton constituency. Here is the latest interview with independent candidate Tony Mack.

When Tony Mack heard Nigel Farage was taking his place as the Reform UK candidate in Clacton, he was forced to make way.

Within days of the announcement on June 3, Mr Mack decided to run against Mr Farage as an independent candidate in Clacton, and as of June 26, was no longer a member of Reform UK.

“I didn’t leave the party — the party left me,” Mr Mack said.

“It was a very difficult decision for me to put my ballot papers in, but I believe I did it for the right reasons and for the benefit of Clacton and for the country as a whole.

“I’ve considered it very, very carefully. And I still maintain and believe that I’ve done the right thing.”

A Clacton resident, psychotherapist and former black cab driver, Mr Mack set up and still runs the Clacton Coastal Mental Wellbeing CIC charity.

“I got into politics because I was seeing the injustice and some of the things going on locally in Clacton, and a lot of things that I didn’t like,” he said, “particularly the under-investment, the social services, the way things are run, the variation between, shall we say, Frinton and Jaywick.

“I got into politics to try and right some wrongs, to try and understand what was going on and why these problems still existed.”

Stand- Mr Mack thought carefully about deciding to stand as an independent candidate. (Image: Tony Mack)

Mr Mack said it was the people of Clacton and the deterioration of the area that were his motivation.

He said: “We can have all sorts of schemes and all sorts of products and ideas, but at the end of the day it’s the service user who is important in all of this.

“If we look at the social services and the infrastructure, you understand that over the last few years Clacton has deteriorated and it’s deteriorating even further.”

He continued: “What I hope to achieve as an Independent standing in Clacton is to stand up for the people of Clacton, to do the right thing by the people of Clacton, and to represent the people of Clacton.

“I believe I’m the right person to do that, and I believe people know that I will be honest with them, and I will be truthful, and I will maintain my integrity.”

Mr Mack said he knows Walton, Frinton, Holland and Great Bentley “very well”.

“I want to continue to improve Clacton and continue to fight for the people of Clacton whose voice is lost, unfortunately, in bureaucracy and obfuscation," he said.

“Giles Watling, he’s had his chance and nothing’s improved,” Mr Mack said of the successful 2019 Conservative election candidate, who is running again this year.

“I don’t believe that Jovan [Owusu-Nepaul], who seems to be a lovely chap from the Labour Party, and is not local — he doesn’t seem to understand the issues in Clacton.

“I don’t believe that Nigel understands the issues in Clacton, and I believe that I do. Most people know that I do, and most people know that I’m on their side.

“It’s my opinion that what Nigel Farage says is not necessarily what Nigel Farage does, but that’s only an opinion.”

Community- Mr Mack said it was the people of Clacton that motivated him to stand. (Image: Tony Mack)

So what does Clacton need?

“Clacton needs improvement in infrastructure for a start. Clacton needs an improvement in its social care system, in the transparency between the local government, Tendring District Council, and the people it claims to represent— which it does represent."

“We need to get everybody working together,” he added, talking about the constituency of Clacton. “There’s a division between one area and another area, and we need to unite all this.

“We’re all Clactonians. We’re all Tendring residents. We need to be all on the same page.”

Mr Mack discussed the Raac concrete crisis, which has affected five schools in Clacton.

He said: “It’s becoming more apparent lately that this has been known about for a long, long time, and it’s been covered up or swept under the carpet.

“It’s an absolute travesty, and that’s indicative of how I feel politics in this country is run today.

“I believe that people are being misled, I believe that people are being taken for fools. I believe that our representatives do not represent us. I believe self-interest is rampant.”

Mr Mack continued: “As a psychotherapist, I can see the psychological and physical damage that is done to people to remove their empowerment, to remove their aspiration, to remove their autonomy.

“This is terrible, and it’s just growing and growing and growing.

“There seems to be no will to help the people to be and express themselves and grow psychologically, grow physically, and get themselves out of a culture of dependency. And I think that’s a travesty, I really do.”

Local- Mr Mack is a local in Clacton, and started Clacton Coastal Mental Wellbeing CIC Company. (Image: Tony Mack)

Mr Mack has floated the idea for around a decade to try and get a qualified counsellor psychotherapist in every school, to help children with “life skills, emotional maturity, and to navigate certain difficulties that we all go through as children”.

He said: “I’m all for improving our education service and our education system, but I also question some things.

“I’m in favour of education, not indoctrination. I’m in favour of children and our pupils being taught how to think, not what to think. That’s very, very important.”

Mr Mack said he is proud of his country, and stands for everybody in Britain being treated equally.

“I believe that everybody in Britain is equal. I believe everybody in Britain should have the same opportunities as anybody else,” he said.

He continued: “The culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion is actually a divisive polity because it disenfranchises and de-equalises society.

“Everybody should be treated the same. No group should be treated special or different.”

Mr Mack is “waiting with bated breath” to see what happens in the General Election.

“I believe the people deserve better than what they have,” he said. “They say a country and an area gets the politicians they deserve. Well, I believe our country and our area deserves better.

“I support my country. I support my area, my constituency.

“All I want is to see it improved, and I believe that it’s going to be lost for various reasons, that it’s going to be lost after the election and nothing’s going to change.

“That’s why I’m standing.”