Bad actors or conspiracy theories? The story of Farage's battle for Clacton

As you enter Clacton you will see dozens of pro-Farage posters urging people to save Britain in what is becoming a fight for the soul of centre-right politics.

It's only when you go to the more genteel areas of the constituency, like Frinton, that they give way to the boards of I stand with Giles. But Giles Watling, the Conservative MP defending his seat in Clacton, could be the only Conservative candidate in this election with a broad coalition of support across the country that wants him to win.

In the wake of the Channel 4 News denouncing the Reform Clacton team and the racist remarks of one of the canvassers Andrew Parker, Watling received a phone call from Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who is not normally a lover of the Tories.

Alastair wanted to know how he could help me stop Farage, Mr Watling told The Independent. I've had a lot of surprising people like this offer to help across the political spectrum because they know I'm the only one who can stop it. [Farage] to enter politics.

He even received a video message from Boris Johnson who appeared prepared to forgive Watling for turning on him over the Partygate affair if it helped prevent Farage from winning. It says a lot that two men who hate each other, Campbell and Johnson, united around Watling.

By contrast, Farage is prepared to deploy Ann Widdecombe, the former right-wing Conservative minister turned Brexit Party MEP and Reform UK supporter, to persuade residents to support him.

Less than 24 hours after Campbell's call, Watling was at the Great Bentley lounge in the constituency where he met two young Labor activists whose candidate, Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, now appears to have unofficially withdrawn from the race.

They both told me they were considering voting for me. Obviously, I was more than happy to cheer them on.

Before becoming an MP, Mr Watling was a well-known actor for more than 50 years, appearing in popular programmes including Bread, Hello? Hello ! And Grange Hill.

He jokes: I never saw myself being cast as St. George to slay the dragon. But here I am.

Controversy over the appearance of another actor, Andrew Parker, the alleged Reform canvasser, has galvanized what appears to be a battle for the very heart of Britain's center-right politics, which is played out mainly on Clacton.

Parker's use of the racist P-word about Rishi Sunak took place on the Channel 4 News Sting confirmed the belief of Watling and those who support him that there is something dark about Farage's politics and the people he attracts.

Reform has filed a formal complaint against Channel 4 and accused it of political interference, pointing out that Parker is an actor and alleging that he was hired to discredit Reform's campaign in Clacton.

Channel 4 News denied these reports, as did Parker, although he initially denied being an actor.

But the conspiracy theory's absurdities certainly didn't convince Watling.

There is always an excuse. It is always someone else's fault. It is as if Farage wanted to blame the vetting agency for the racist remarks or support for Hitler that he made about his candidates. The fact is that these people are always attracted to his policies.

I know I'm facing this with someone with such international celebrity, but there's a real danger that people will follow someone with an instant smile and that kind of politics. It's like what happened in the 1930s.

A few minutes' walk from Watlings' campaign office, opposite Clacton Town Hall, is the former Chinese restaurant on Pier Avenue near the seafront, used as a campaign headquarters where The independent I met Peter Harris, Farage's election agent.

While Watlings HQ was relatively quiet, a constant stream of volunteers from Farage's People's Army were coming in and out of the reformed base. There were also journalists and cameras outside the front door and in the back, which were carefully kept away.

Mr Harris is one of the reasons Farage chose Clacton. He is an independent local councilor who left the Conservatives after Watling helped oust Johnson. He and a number of others resigned when conservative election officials intervened to prevent them from deselecting Watling. But previously he also led Labor in 2015 in Dagenham and Rainham as a UKIP candidate. In order to win while campaigning as party leader, Farage needed an organized on-the-ground campaign; with Peter Harris, he has an efficient and experienced operator.

It was the honour of my life to be asked to be Nigels' election agent. It could be the most important thing yet, perhaps only after the EU referendum result.

Harris had been forced to have a difficult conversation with his family when Farage decided to run. They were supposed to spend the holiday of a lifetime in Japan to visit his son and were forced to postpone the trip.

But the day before we met, he had wondered if all his efforts and sacrifices had been for nothing when Channel 4 News revealed its internal investigation into the campaign team, revealing appalling racism on the part of Parker.

Harris admitted to having a sleepless night on Thursday.

I could not believe it. What this guy said was simply despicable. I was completely shocked and disgusted. What a thug.

Harris was actually shaking with anger.

We have had so many good, honest people come from this area and all over the country to help us and this guy is poisoning everything.

But rumors about Parker began to circulate in the morning. It turned out that he was a professional actor who spoke well but could take on gruff voices and who had specialized in playing villains on his profile.

It is no surprise that discussions at Reform Party headquarters Friday morning centered on a conspiracy, although the party has yet to produce any concrete evidence to suggest that is the case.

Harris added: “I've told our volunteers to remember that we're going to be the most scrutinised local campaign in history. Other parties make mistakes and have bad apples, but ours is going to be criticised a lot more than the others because Nigel is our candidate.”

Other campaigners pointed out that Giles Watling, the Conservative MP defending the seat, was also an actor and questioned whether he had anything to do with the conspiracy, without any evidence to support this claim.

In a way, the truth no longer mattered; it had become the latest chapter in the establishment's grand conspiracy to stop Farage after the EU, the banks, the mainstream media, Westminster politics and the rest.

And a quick survey in Clacton town center suggested it had made little difference. A shrug and a constant, I didn't see that these were the main responses.