“It just makes the whole thing into a farce.” Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Green Party are not standing against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election, which will mean the result will not make much difference, and everyone will think of it as “futile”, says Times columnist Alice Thomson. Alice Thomson and Robert Crampton were speaking to Ed Vaizey in for Hugo Rifkind on Times Radio. Listen live every Monday to Thursday, 10am-1pm. Read the best of our journalism: https://www.thetimes.com/ Listen live to Times Radio: https://www.thetimes.com/radio/live Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=timesonlinevideo Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timesandsundaytimes/ Find us on X: https://x.com/thetimes Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetimes/