An aerial view of the fun fair on the Clacton-on-Sea’s pier. Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images At the entrance to Clacton Pier, beneath the slowly spinning big wheel, is the Tubby Isaacs seafood stand. Beneath its scarlet awning lie cockles, whelks and jellied eels: a portal to an old East End on the Essex coast. One of its servers, who rides into work on a cherry-red scooter emblazoned with a Union Jack every morning, told me she would be voting for Reform in the local elections. There was no nostalgic lament for an old England, nothing against asylum seekers, no rant about inflation or business rates. Her one preoccupation was with potholes. “If I hit one of those, I’m coming off my scooter. It’s dangerous, and it’s got so much worse – it’s disgusting,” she told me. “The council should be taking care of them. The other two parties have done nothing, so hopefully Reform can.…