Clacton votes today in by-election triggered by Farage defection to Reform

Voters in Clacton go to the polls today in a by-election triggered when the sitting MP defected to Reform UK earlier this year. Nigel Farage is standing for the seat he won in the general election, but the by-election follows his decision to leave the Conservatives and take the Reform whip.

The Guardian notes Count Binface is among dozens of candidates, and describes Farage as looking trapped and rattled. The Independent asks whether Clacton might bin off Farage, though the seat has been safe for him since he took it. The contest is less about the outcome - Farage is expected to hold - than about turnout and margin, and what it signals about Reform's grip on its new seats.

The machinery is the precedent. Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives to UKIP and triggered a by-election in the same seat in 2014, which he won. Farage is following the same course - leave the party, force a by-election, and ask the voters to confirm the switch. The difference this time is that Reform holds the seat already, so the question is whether the electorate ratifies the defection or punishes it.

What to watch: the margin and the turnout. A comfortable win for Farage cements Reform's position; a tight result or a low turnout suggests the voters are less enthusiastic about the party switch than the MP was.