Can Clacton voters get rid of Nigel Farage?: ‘He’s nowhere to be seen’
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Nigel Farage has been noticeably absent from his Clacton-on-Sea constituency, but can local residents trigger a by-election to change their elected representative?
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In brief...
- Clacton locals have been asking when the Reform UK MP will hold a surgery for his constituents, while his absence has been mocked on social media.
- MPs can be removed from their positions, but only under very strict criteria.
- The News Agents believe too much emphasis is put on local visibility, when they should instead prioritise their role in Parliament.
When Emily Maitlis bumped into Nigel Farage at the Republican Convention in July, she asked him what he was doing in the USA, just weeks after being elected MP for Clacton-on-Sea.
“It was right that I came,” he replied.
But now it’s not just Emily who’s asking that question, with Clacton constituents – and listeners of The News Agents – asking where Farage has been since winning the seat for Reform UK in the July election, and what can be done about it.
Memes have been posted on social media of people queuing to get on a plane, having grown floor-length beards and even skeletons sat in a waiting room, with jokes about Clacton constituents waiting for Farage to hold a surgery in his constituency, where he will meet local people and address some of their needs.
Can constituents vote to get rid of their MP?
“He’s nowhere to be seen,” says Jon Sopel, although Farage hasn’t disappeared entirely. He can be found posting videos online, hosting his GB News show and giving interviews to Fox News and Talk TV.
In recent weeks he has used social media to deny any involvement in inciting the racist riots which swept the UK in August, following the murder of three children in Southport.
A letter was recently published in The Daily Mail, formerly supportive of Farage and his politics, from a Clacton resident claiming it had been impossible to get in touch with the new MP.
But can constituents force a by-election, and potentially get rid of their MP if they are unhappy with their actions – or lack of? That’s one of the topics The News Agents have been discussing in a new episode of the podcast.
What are the rules?
It is possible for constituents to make this happen, under the Recall of MPs Act, which was introduced in 2015.
If an MP is sentenced to prison, a by-election can be triggered – and if the sentence is for more than 12 months, then this happens automatically. It can also occur if the MP is found to have filed false expenses claims, and if a report is filed by any House of Commons conduct committee following a suspension from the House of Commons for more than 10 sitting days.
Currently, none of these apply to Nigel Farage.
“The bar is high,” says Lewis Goodall.
“You have to be a criminal or or have committed serious parliamentary wrongdoing.”
These rules were introduced under David Cameron’s Conservative government, and followed the expenses scandal, where it was found that many MPs had submitted false claims, which were paid for with taxpayer money.
Maitlis to Farage: What is Clacton's new MP doing in America?
What do The News Agents say?
Lewis says MPs should be in their constituencies, but feels demands for constant visibility can be taken “a bit far”.
“They should be there, and that is important, but we should remember that they are national legislators,” he says.
“They should be in Parliament most of the time. They should be working on national legislation.”
And Farage has been in Parliament multiple times since becoming an MP for the first time in July.
“There has been a bit of a tendency in recent years to think that MPs are almost sort of like glorified social workers, and they're there in their constituency surgeries,” Lewis continues.
“MPs themselves often exacerbate that trend, because they show themselves on social media, saying 'I'm in my constituency. Here I am, day after day, I barely go to Parliament. This place is more important'.
“No. Westminster is more important.”
Jon says it’s probably a bit soon to discuss how much time Farage, or any MP, has spent in their constituency since being elected.
“It's the middle of the summer holidays, and the election was only on July the fourth,” he says.
“So if we get to Christmas and Nigel Farage has spent the whole time in the United States of America – I mean, not impossible – then maybe we return to this question.”
See you in December.
Listen in full on The News Agents.
