Clacton by-election: Farage may win the town, but can he win the country?

As Reform UK is beset by financial scandals, the populist party’s rise is in doubt.Several polls have shown the populist force lagging behind the governing Labour Party, while electorally, it has been defeated in by-elections in Makerfield and Gorton and Denton and in the race last month for mayor of Greater Manchester.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Farage, Reform in ‘trouble’, as UK braces for crypto influence in politicslist 2 of 4Reform UK plan to return asylum seekers using navy ‘dangerous in practice’list 3 of 4The influencers taking on far-right leader Nigel Faragelist 4 of 4Nigel Farage vows to deport foreign criminals from UK prisonsend of listUntil recently, Reform led most surveys. On Monday, Ipsos polling put Labour ahead of Reform UK. Twenty-eight percent said they would vote Labour at the next general election, compared with 25 percent for Reform, 18 percent for the Conservatives and 12 percent for the Greens.“History offers us absolutely no guide to how this may play out.” the respected UK election guru John Curtice of Strathclyde University told Al Jazeera, “The UK’s politics have never been so fragmented, so there’s no precedent for any of what we’re ...