The continuing revolt – next stop Clacton?

Voters in ‘Little Dagenham’ are not done yet in their rebellion against the sneering liberal class

Why are thousands of citizens in the Essex constituency of Clacton about to vote for Nigel Farage – a man whose personal background and station in life are, in the case of many, far removed from their own, and whose political philosophy runs contrary, in several ways, to their own beliefs and interests?

I think I might know the answer.

Dubbed ‘Little Dagenham’, on account of the number of working-class former residents of the borderlands of east London and west Essex who have flocked here in the past couple of decades, this one-time lively and respectable seaside resort – in its heyday, it welcomed thousands of holidaymakers and day-trippers and was seen as a desirable retirement destination – has, for some considerable time now, been in sharp decline.

The neglect experienced by many of Britain’s coastal communities – exemplified by the erosion of industry, diminishing employment prospects and worsening transport (especially rail) connectivity – is a tale of our times, and Clacton has not been able to insulate itself from some of the worst effects.  

As someone who grew up in the real Dagenham, I know quite a bit about the type of folk who live in Clacton today. And it isn’t only the sense of economic and industrial abandonment that has ignited the quiet rebellion that has been taking place in towns such as this. Voters in the Clactons of our nation – not just those of working-class stock, but the conservative middle-classes, too – are sick and tired of the cultural snobbery directed towards them by elements of our political and media classes. 

In the minds of the liberal sophisticates who wield so much influence in public life, towns such as Clacton are benighted and backward – their inhabitants in need of being dragged out of their ignorance by a large dose of progressive hectoring. This attitude was best (or worst) demonstrated in a few passages of an opinion piece penned a couple of years before the EU referendum by Matthew Parris of the Times, after he visited Clacton in person. Parris’s words about the place were positively dripping with contempt and loathing. He wrote: