Clacton By-Election Candidate Profile
Andy Erlam
Andy Erlam is a veteran campaigner, former Labour parliamentary candidate and former political adviser who became nationally known for leading the successful election petition that removed Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman from office in 2015. In Clacton he is campaigning on intensive constituency work, local jobs, health and social care, housing, transport, education, anti-corruption and political accountability.
Andy Erlam
Erlam has one of the longest political and campaigning records in the Clacton field. He first stood for Parliament for Labour in 1983 and has since appeared on ballots as Labour, Red Flag Anti-Corruption and Independent.
From South Essex to Oxford and Parliament
Erlam’s Clacton election communication contains a detailed account of his background and career. These details are presented as his own published account unless independently sourced.
South Essex upbringing
Erlam says he was brought up in South Essex and attended a secondary modern school in Stanford-le-Hope.
He says his early jobs included working as a labourer, van driver and fitter, spending more than six years in fitting work before going to university.
Companies House records his date of birth as October 1950 and his nationality as British.
Oxford
Erlam says he secured a place at Oxford University to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics despite not having conventional entry qualifications.
A later academic publication about Oxford industrial-relations scholar Alan Fox identifies Erlam as a former student who graduated in PPE in 1974.
Public policy work
His leaflet says his later work included helping homeless people, working on prison and criminal-justice policy, running a Citizens Advice Bureau, university lecturing, teaching disadvantaged adults and advising on energy policy.
The Guardian identifies him as a former political adviser to a Labour Cabinet minister.
Writer, film-maker and campaigner
The Guardian described Erlam in 2015 as a writer and film-maker. His public profile in the last decade has been dominated by election integrity and anti-corruption work connected with Tower Hamlets.
Companies House records previous roles in Anti-Corruption Investigations LLP and The Public Inquiry into Corruption in Tower Hamlets Ltd.
“Never be frightened to ask a question.”
Andy Erlam, 2026 Clacton election leafletLabour, anti-corruption campaigner, Independent
Erlam’s political history stretches back more than forty years and includes three previous parliamentary campaigns before Clacton.
Stood in Bexleyheath for Labour, receiving 7,560 votes, or 17.1%.
Stood for Labour in Cheltenham and received 5,041 votes, or 12.0%.
Stood in Bow East for Tower Hamlets Council under the Red Flag Anti-Corruption label, receiving 129 votes.
Stood for Mayor of Tower Hamlets for Red Flag Anti-Corruption after the previous mayoral election had been voided by the election court.
Stood for West Suffolk Council in Brandon East as Labour, receiving 59 votes.
Stood in Poplar and Limehouse as an Independent, receiving 376 votes.
Now contests the Clacton by-election on an intensive constituency-service and accountability platform.
Erlam v Rahman
Erlam’s most notable public achievement was not winning an election. It was helping overturn one.
The Tower Hamlets election petition
2014 election challenged, judgment delivered 23 April 2015
Andy Erlam was the lead petitioner among four Tower Hamlets electors who brought an election petition challenging the 2014 re-election of Mayor Lutfur Rahman.
After a lengthy Election Court hearing, Commissioner Richard Mawrey declared the mayoral election void and found Rahman personally guilty, and guilty by his agents, of corrupt and illegal practices under election law.
The judgment resulted in Rahman being removed from office and disqualified from holding elective office for five years. The court also found corrupt practices had extensively prevailed at the 2014 Tower Hamlets election.
Parliament subsequently discussed the case in a Commons debate on electoral fraud, describing Erlam and the three other petitioners as citizens who had taken the case at considerable personal risk.
Eight promises about how he would work as MP
Erlam’s manifesto is unusually focused on the day-to-day job of representing constituents.
Move to the constituency
Pledges to move into the Clacton constituency if elected.
Take half the MP salary
Says he would draw only half of the approximately £100,000 MP salary.
Immediate advice surgery
Says he would set up a face-to-face MP advice surgery immediately.
Skilled constituency office
Pledges a constituency office staffed by people able to deal effectively with casework.
Monthly public meetings
Promises monthly all-constituent meetings open to everybody to help decide campaign priorities.
Quarterly reports
Says he would publish quarterly reports including anonymised casework where appropriate.
Reply within seven days
Pledges that constituent enquiries would be acknowledged within seven days.
Resident groups
Wants specific consultative groups for young people, older residents and other communities of interest.
Jobs, services, housing and infrastructure
Beyond his eight service pledges, the second side of Erlam’s leaflet identifies a set of broader objectives for Clacton.
“A vote for Erlam is a vote for justice, integrity and community action.”
Andy Erlam, Clacton election leafletDaily street hustings in Clacton
Erlam has been one of the candidates putting in visible time on the ground during the by-election.
Clacton Speakers Corner
The Guardian reported on 3 August that Erlam and fellow Independent Attieh Fard were holding midday street hustings in Clacton town centre every day until polling day.
They invited other candidates, including Nigel Farage and Count Binface, to attend and answer questions alongside them.
Serious representation
Erlam told the Guardian that Westminster is difficult territory and argued that voters should choose somebody able to represent them seriously rather than treating the contest as comedy.
He also criticised the fact that only a small number of candidates had delivered election communications despite the record 34-name ballot.
“We will be here to answer questions from the people of Clacton every day.”
Andy Erlam, quoted by The Guardian, 3 August 2026AI political position indicator
Erlam’s long Labour history, work on homelessness and criminal-justice policy, emphasis on poverty, public services, housing, education, climate change and social care place him on the centre-left. His present campaign is less ideological than a party manifesto and focuses heavily on constituency accountability, anti-corruption and practical casework. That keeps the estimate closer to the centre than to the far left.
FL = Far Left, L = Left, C = Centre, R = Right, FR = Far Right. This is an approximate Clacton.org AI editorial estimate based on his election history, campaign leaflet and published statements. It is not a position supplied, endorsed or approved by Andy Erlam.
Andy Erlam’s Clacton leaflet
ElectionLeaflets.org records a two-sided election communication from Erlam uploaded on 6 August 2026.
Known election contests: 7
The current Clacton election is Erlam’s fourth known parliamentary contest. His full identified record also includes local and mayoral elections.
| Date | Election | Party / status | Votes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 June 1983 | Bexleyheath, UK General Election | Labour | 7,560 | Not elected, 17.1% |
| 7 June 2001 | Cheltenham, UK General Election | Labour | 5,041 | Not elected, 12.0% |
| 22 May 2014 | Bow East, Tower Hamlets Council | Red Flag Anti-Corruption | 129 | Not elected, 0.95% |
| 11 June 2015 | Mayor of Tower Hamlets | Red Flag Anti-Corruption | 1,768 | Not elected, 2.59% |
| 2 May 2019 | Brandon East, West Suffolk Council | Labour | 59 | Not elected, 4th of 5 |
| 12 December 2019 | Poplar and Limehouse, UK General Election | Independent | 376 | Not elected, 6th, 0.6% |
| 13 August 2026 | Clacton Parliamentary By-Election | Independent | Pending | Current election |
Candidate and public-record links
Sources and further information
This profile combines Erlam’s current Clacton leaflet with official election results, court records and established reporting on his political and anti-corruption work.