Never thought I’d see my home town being discussed here. I no longer live there but regularly go back.

It’s not a great town but it’s also not truly awful. It’s a reasonably deprived town that harks back to its former grand past with an older demographic constantly topped up by people retiring there from east London.

There’s a lot of very nice people who are mortified that Farage is the MP and that the town has become a political joke. I struggle to see how people can vote for Farage but if you walk around the town center (which is perfectly safe like all of the UK is regardless of what social media and US news outlets say) you can understand why people want some change.

In reality there’s no well paid jobs and, with the aging demographic and no reason for anything to be based there, no reason for there to ever be any sadly.

Also Farage is in the district a lot more than the media makes out, I hear enough second and third hand sightings of him that he must be there more than once a month.

The interesting question is not how Farage could win. He chose that town for his high rate of supporters.

The interesting question is: would a “real” candidate have beaten him?

Far right is not a change toward more or better jobs. The economic or "just change" arguments are rationalizations, not explanations.

Has he held a surgery, though?

Photo ops are all vey well.