Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will face 33 opponents in the Clacton by-election, forming a 34-candidate field that Tendring District Council said is believed to be the largest ever for a UK parliamentary election. The vote is scheduled for August 13 in the constituency Farage previously represented as an MP. Farage triggered the by-election when he resigned earlier in July after scrutiny of gifts and donations he had not initially declared under parliamentary rules. The scrutiny intensified after reports that Farage had received a £5 million gift from billionaire cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne before the last election. Farage has denied wrongdoing and said he is standing again so voters can decide whether he should continue representing Clacton. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Restore Britain are not fielding candidates in the contest. Their absence leaves Count Binface, actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox, three Official Monster Raving Loony Party contenders and numerous independents among those on the ballot.

How odd, that when I put too much thought into writing, my hands refuse to produce anything. Somehow, I got it into my mind that what I write has to be ex...