Clacton is buzzing with election fever - and without having travelled to all four corners of the UK during this election, I can confidently predict there are few places in Britain - and few party leaders - that would pack a large theatre at 7.30pm on a Tuesday night to discuss politics.

The town wears its patriotism on its sleeve, and while the Euros may have more to do with the abundance of English flags than Nigel Farage's candidacy, his supporters would no doubt argue that in this part of the world, supporting the two campaigns go hand in hand.

Typically provocative, Reform UK picked out the Princes Theatre as its rally venue, which happens to be on the direct opposite side of the road to the office of local Tory MP Giles Watling.

With a sizeable 820-seat capacity, it was packed to the rafters with keen supporters - or locals keen to hear what their likely next MP has to say.

Contrary to what neighsayers may have predicted, the audience was not merely comprised of pensioners, but men and women of all ages. I even spotted a couple of families with young teenage children - all of them wearing teal Reform UK stickers.

The event took a 'town hall-style' format, with Mr Farage taking an hour of questions from the unvetted audience.

This style of unmanaged public engagement, apart from everything else, is something Mr Farage parades as a key difference between him and his fellow party leaders at this election.

The scenes when Mr Farage emerged were like nothing I've seen from any other politician. He paraded through the throng of supporters to the tune 'Guess Who's Back (back again)' shaking hands.

The theatrics had barely begun, however, for when he eventually got to the stage there were firework sparklers just to top it all off.

The audience was clearly eating out of his hands, on everything from small boats being a national security crisis, to the Tories betraying Brexit; from the inability to get GP appointments to getting on the housing ladder; the audience was on hand to reward him with an enormous round of applause.

In this room at least, the Tories - who won the seat in 2019 with 72.3% of the vote - received little love.

The anti-Tory vitriol was palpable. "Folks, I don't believe a single word that slippery Sunak says and nor should you!" was one remark that received a particularly rapturous round of applause.

There was, however, huge love for the former Tory MP here Douglas Carswell, who despite personal differences with Mr Farage was praised as a man with huge principle for resigning his seat in 2014 after defecting to UKIP and - in Mr Farage's historic interpretation - helped secure the momentum for Brexit in 2016.

It wasn't the only defection talk tonight. Having promised a "major announcement" he revealed four new defections to Reform UK.

Elected as Tory councillors as recently as 2023, the gang of four will be a new permanent Reform UK presence in the Constituency.

Mr Farage told an adoring audience that the establishment "are terrified" of both them and him - and while Labour isn't scared yet, "by the time I've finished with them, they will be".

He boldly predicted that by "early next week" Reform UK will be the clear second-place party in opinion polls.

Mr Farage asked the audience whether they would be part of the silent majority backing him - silent their response was not.

He told the audience that by 2029 Reform UK could be in such a position as to actually win the national poll. And based on the mood in this audience there are plenty of people in the country who dream of that happening.

Whether it does happen is now entirely up to voters in this constituency, and who they pick as their local MP on July 5th.