'He doesn’t give two hoots!' Tory Clacton candidate blasts Farage 'circus' and blames Truss for party's electoral crisis

Speaking to GB News, Watling tried to put clear blue water between himself and Farage.

He said: “Nigel clearly doesn't give two hoots about Clacton. The timing of his announcement was interesting. Clearly, he was focusing on a job in America but Trump was hit with more than 30 felonies.

“Farage is taking Clacton for granted as if they will automatically flock to his flag. I don't want to see the constituents of Clacton sacrificed on the altar of his vanity.

“I've brought millions of pounds of investment into the area recently and been sitting on the town board to make sure that money was invested wisely. It's about how we enhance the area. This is a beautiful area and we just have to clean up some of the issues we face.

“I've long been banging the drum here, both as an MP and as a local councillor. The other thing is I actually know this place. I first came here in 1957. I brought my family up here. I know this place inside out. I know the people.

"When I walked down on Tuesday to the pier area just to see what was happening with Farage's circus arriving in town, people came up to me to speak to me. Clearly, I am the better placed man."

However, during a media huddle in a pub on the seafront, Farage spoke about Clacton serving as the “spiritual home” for Eurosceptics.

He said: “It’s one of those places I’ve come to again, and again, and again. My first colleague when I arrived at the European Parliament, Jeffrey Titford, lived in Frinton-on-Sea. I’ve been quite a regular visitor since then. The Carswell stuff in 2014 was a really important moment.

“It showed to David Cameron, you can’t roll back on this. If you do, the Tory Party will be destroyed. That was after a rather vague promise in 2013 of a referendum. So, as a Eurosceptic, Clacton is a spiritual home.”

Farage added: “If a national figure represents a constituency that is at the end of a railway line, literally marginalised and ignored, maybe, just maybe, I can encourage the investment.

“The biggest single problem facing people’s lives here in Clacton is a lack of money. It’s poverty. And when you get poverty you get bad health and all those things that go with it. I’m not a miracle worker but I do think a national figure might just be of some help.”

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Watling, who put forward his own plan to use technology to deal with the migrant crisis, dismissed Farage’s sugestion.

He said: "Farage won't have the ear in Westminster in the way I do and I've been delivering so far. That's my plea. It’s not for me but the people of Clacton and the nation at large."

Questions about how much Farage cares about Clacton were raised at his “emergency announcement” on Monday.

Responding to whether he would want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton, the ex-Ukip heavyweight stressed it would be a “huge commitment”.

Despite putting pressure on Farage, Watling also had some choice words for why the Tory Party finds itself languishing in the opinion polls.

Rishi Sunak risks leading the Conservatives to a horrific defeat on July 4, with surveys suggesting a stonking Labour majority.

The latest YouGov poll, which was conducted after Farage announced he would indeed stand in Clacton, put Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on 40 per cent.

The Tories languished behind in a distant second on 19 per cent, with Reform UK surging up to narrow the gap to just two-points.

A crossover situation could help propel Farage forward, with seats in Parliament becoming a real possibility.

YouGov’s Patrick English even suggested Reform UK could snatch four seats, establishing a bigger breakthrough than Ukip achieved in 2014 or 2015.

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GB News understands Reform UK insiders were delighted last night with the latest Farage boost and preparing to take the fight to the Tories across leave-voting constituencies.

There is even speculation that around half a dozen Tory MPs could defect to the populist party before nominations close on Friday.

Explaining why the Tories find themselves in such a torrid position, Watling said: "I don't think we take enough credit for some of the things this Government has had to be dealing with. For instance, we spend a third of a trillion of pounds holding up businesses and dealing with furlough during the pandemic.

“We also took an incredible step by becoming one of the first nations in the world to start vaccinations. It was a terrible situation and we are dealing with the legacies of that in denting the bank balance. The Government is making some tough decisions about that.”

He added: "The awful partygate situation with Boris Johnson, which was a huge shame in my view, and then we had the experience of the Liz Truss premiership which ended very badly with a mini-budget that was poorly thought through.

“Those were issues that have come to haunt us and that is probably why some voters in Clacton are dissatisfied with the administration from that point of view but since then things have been improving. The economy has been improving, inflation is down, energy prices are coming down, things are definitely improving and the plan is working.

“What I say to the voters of Clacton is stick with it; this Government has delivered in very trying times, we haven't even mentioned the war in Ukraine and Putin having his throat on our energy supplies.”

Labour managed to establish its first consistent lead over the Tories after partygate hit the frontpages.

However, Johnson was still only trailing Starmer by single-digits when he was eventually ousted following a Cabinet cabal over the summer of 2022.

Support tanked further following Truss' 49-day premiership and mini-budget.

Despite initially clawing back some support, Sunak has overseen a number of safe by-election losses, thousands of Conservative councillors getting the chop and dismal opinion polls.

A Tory source on the right of the party told GB News on Monday that Sunak was warned about the threat from Farage and ignored calls to take more direct action to thwart his efforts.

However, when asked about his chances of re-election, Watling said: “I think I stand every chance of winning but I'm not complacent. Farage is a celebrity candidate, there's no two ways about it. He brings his battle bus and razzmatazz.

“When the circus came to town on Tuesday, you couldn't miss it and it is quite extraordinary. But I stand by my record, it's going to be a close run thing, I think I can win but I'm not complacent.”

Farage’s event near Clacton Pier on Tuesday drew hundreds to the sunny seaside town, with dozens cramming into the Moon & Starfish to catch a glimpse of the Brexit stalwart.

Reform UK’s leader, who unsuccessfully stood as a Ukip candidate in Westminster elections on seven occasions, sent a direct message to GB News viewers about why they should back the populist party.

He said: "The way of stopping Starmer going further back into the EU is a strong Reform voice in the House of Commons."

Farage was already courting a number of ex-Conservative supporters, with several telling GB News immigration was at the cornerstone of their support.

Reform UK’s leader told constituents that the Tories will pay a “big price” for their handling of immigration.

Farage also vowed to “reduce net migration to zero” and “stop the boats” within 100 days of coming to power with a six-point plan.

The 60-year-old was keen to stress it was not his ambition to destroy the Tory Party.

Speaking to journalists in the Moon & Starfish on Tuesday, Farage said: “You will not find a single quote of me saying, ‘I want to destroy the Conservative Party’. What you will find is me saying, ‘the Conservative Party have destroyed themselves already’. It’s over. It’s done. There is no election. Labour are going to win.

“The positive thing that I am trying to do is to create a voice of opposition to a Labour Government that looks to me that it will have a Cabinet stuffed with incompetents … We need a proper voice, an opposition voice that represents the silent majority, for common sense.”

He added: "My aim is for the centre-right in British politics to realign. It can’t do that under the current Conservatives. There needs to be a change. If there was a model I was looking to, and it may sound ambitious, it would be Canada.”

Tory sources were mixed on the threat from Farage in Clacton.

A local insider said: “We weren’t surprise by Nigel announcement and we fancy our chances. It’s his mountain to climb.”

But another Tory source told GB News: “This will have a disastrous impact for Conservatives and right-wing voters backing Reform will only get them things that they so ardently claim to be again. I think Farage will win in Clacton but people know he won’t be a good MP.”

A recent YouGov MRP poll conducted before Farage's candidacy in Clacton suggested Watling would hold on with a 15-point lead over his Labour challenger Jovan Owusu Nepaul.

Reform UK were sat just a few points behind, hoovering up 20 per cent of the vote in the coastal constituency.

However, a Survation poll conducted in January included Farage as a candidate and suggested a rather different outcome.

It put the former Ukip leader on 37 per cent, 10-points clear of Watling.