I’ve seen what can confound Farage on his home turf: optimism. People need a politics that offers them that | Owen Jones

You can’t blame his constituents in Clacton for their pessimism – because they have been let down for years Under battered England flags, cynicism, pessimism and exhaustion stalk the streets of Clacton. As the byelection called by Nigel Farage approaches, one young couple do not know which candidates are standing. Neither has ever voted. Living in Britain is “depressing”, says the woman in a black floral dress. “The cost of living these days is stupid,” says her partner, wearing a black and grey mechanic’s shirt and a black and red cap. They both work 40 or 50 hours a week, he says, yet “we’re still struggling to pay rent, food, electric, everything else”. They rarely get a day off, and time spent together is rarer still. No wonder they are not agonising over the £5m personal gift Farage received from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire, or the donations in kind from a convicted fraudster. Life is already taking up all their time. Communities across Britain have endured stagnation and decline since the financial crash of 2008, but Clacton has more problems than most. Families still descend on the flashing arcades and fairground rides of Clacton pier, but nothin