The General Election 2024 candidates standing in Clacton fighting Nigel Farage for your vote

Matt Lee

28 June 2024 at 4:49 am·2-min read

Clacton Pier — -Credit: (Image: RNLI/Mark Walsham)

This July voters will head to polling stations to decide who they want to vote for. The nation's eyes will be drawn to Clacton with Reform UK's leader, Nigel Farage, deciding to contest the coastal Essex seat.

Clacton has had a varied electoral history since being formed in 2010. It's been mostly Conservative-held aside from three years when it had a UKIP representative.

Douglas Carswell was elected three times to represent Clacton in the House of Commons. His tenure began in 2010 as a Conservative before he defected to UKIP.

ALSO READ: The Essex constituencies quickest to announce their new MPs on election night

Giles Watling (Cons.) was the Conservative MP for Clacton up until Rishi Sunak announced the General Election for July 4. Nigel Farage was met by huge crowds at Clacton Pier the day after signalling his intention to run as a candidate for Reform UK.

The 2019 election

Mr Watling won the election for the second time back in 2019, increasing his majority from 15,828 in 2017 to 24,702. Labour's share of the vote decreased, meanwhile, from 11,203 to 6,736.

The seat has often been contested by a number of parties and in 2019 there were seven standing for election, including Just-John Sexton of the Monster Raving Loony Party. There were also Independent candidates Andy Morgan and Colin Bennett. 2019 was the first time in three elections that UKIP did not have a candidate standing for election in Clacton.

Recent voting trends

One set of YouGov polling suggests the Conservatives are 'likely' to hold Clacton but that does not include any potential impact from Mr Farage's involvement. Polling by Electoral Calculus, meanwhile, now predicts Farage to be the overall winner in Clacton.

It will be interesting to see how Tony Mack performs in the General Election in Clacton. He was due to be Reform UK's candidate for the area until Mr Farage's announcement; Mr Mack is now running as an independent candidate.

Who are the 2024 General Election candidates in Clacton?

Craig Jamieson, Climate Party

Craig Jamieson from the Climate Party -Credit:Craig Jamieson

Giles Watling, Conservative Party

Natasha Osben, Green Party

Natasha Osben of the Green Party — Giles Watling

Tasos Papnastasiou, Heritage Party

Tasos Papnastasiou of the Heritage Party — Natasha Osben of the Green Party -Credit:Natasha Osben

Tony Mack, Independent

Mr Mack failed to provide an image in time for publication.

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party

Matthew Bensilum, Liberal Democrats

Matthew Bensilum of the Liberal Democrats — Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, Labour Party -Credit:Labour Party

Nigel Farage, Reform UK

Andrew Pemberton, UKIP

Andrew Pemberton of UKIP — Matthew Bensilum of the Liberal Democrats -Credit:Lib Dems

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The 2019 election

Recent voting trends

Who are the 2024 General Election candidates in Clacton?

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