Nigel's back – but for how long?

Plus: the Boriswave isn't a myth, and why students deserve the truth about their degrees

Aug 14, 2026

Back away from that disposable barbecue: they’ve been banned.

Meanwhile Nigel Farage is back: back in the Commons after his victory in the Clacton by-election, and back in front of Parliament’s standards commissioner, after the investigation into the £5 million gift he received before becoming an MP was reopened today.

If Farage gets suspended from the Commons for more than 10 sitting days, a recall petition will be launched. At least 10% of eligible voters in Clacton would need to sign it, but with Count Binface, aka the comedian Jon Harvey, getting nearly 10,000 votes yesterday, there’s more than enough anti-Farage voters who might fancy a second go. Can the rest of us face it all over again though?

Sam Blewett@BlewettSam

If Nigel Farage does end up being kicked out of Parliament over the donations investigation then today's result suggests a recall petition would be successful Binface won more than 12% of the electorate by my calculations — so more than the 10% needed for recall

5:56 AM · Aug 14, 2026 · 19.6K Views

6 Replies · 17 Reposts · 440 Likes

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Clacton backs Farage – another vote won't change that

Gawain Towler

‘Once a by-election becomes a question of legitimacy rather than representation, voters grow more determined to be heard, not less.’

Clacton voters handed Nigel Farage even more votes yesterday than they did in 2024: an incredibly rare feat. The by-election will certainly pay dividends for Reform UK, who got valuable practice ahead of a re-run, or even a snap general election. Read More

The Boriswave is not a myth

Karl Williams

‘To tell people in these areas not to believe the evidence of their own eyes, and that there is no problem, seems remarkably unsympathetic.’

The ‘Boriswave’ is often seen as a propagandistic term originating from the online right, not least in a recent essay which dismissed it as a myth. But doing so downplays the sheer scale of the recent migration spike, and misunderstands voters’ disquiet. Net migration might now be slowing, but the population of migrants is still far higher than it used to be. Read More

Stat of the day

Best of the Web

Britain's fiscal crisis

David Coates, The Critic

‘The salient question is not whether this level of borrowing is fiscally sustainable, but whether it is politically sustainable.’

Our national debt has passed an eye-watering £3 trillion. The numbers behind it – including a debt-to-GDP ratio approaching 100% – are even worse. We’ve been here before – but only in times of national peril. Today’s fiscal mess, however, is driven by too much routine expenditure. With no appetite for cuts, and debt interest mounting, we can’t escape our dependence on the bond markets. Read More

Show students what their course is worth

Fraser Nelson, The Times 🔒

‘Going to university is not in itself an investment strategy. It all depends on what you study, where you study it and what you could have been doing instead.’

Record numbers of school leavers are heading to university – but is it still worth it? A degree can leave graduates deep in debt, and some worse off than if they had never gone. If Burnham wants the hard hat to rival the graduation cap, he should release the salary data so teenagers can make better-informed choices. Read More