A lifetime of connection, service and faith

A lifetime of connection

This coast has always felt familiar — at home.

I am Tony Francis, standing as an independent candidate for Clacton under the RevivalUK.UK banner. Although I live just outside the constituency boundary, my connection with this area goes back almost my whole life.

As a child, I enjoyed everything this coast had to offer. My mother taught me to swim in the warm indoor pool at Butlin's in Clacton. I still have old cine film of myself kicking a rugby ball with my dad on the green at Frinton. Later, I brought my own family back to enjoy many of those same places.

That history matters to me. This area has never felt distant. It has always felt part of my life.

Rugby and community

Competition without division.

As a young man, rugby brought me into Clacton too. The local derbies could be fiercely competitive, but afterwards we sang together, drank together and shared the same clubhouses.

That sense of rivalry without hatred — competition without division — still means something to me. We can disagree strongly and still recognise each other's humanity and our shared responsibility for the place we live.

Public service

Serving as a police officer in the constituency.

Later, as a police officer, I served across this constituency. I first came here on summer support duties as a uniformed constable and later returned as a sergeant, running teams of constables and detectives from Clacton.

I investigated serious crimes, worked alongside good people and experienced the personal cost that sometimes comes with public service.

One of my friends and police colleagues was fatally shot at Frinton while I was on duty. The radio traffic from that day has never completely left me. These were not simply colleagues; they were friends. Experiences like that change the way you see service, community and responsibility.

Faith in action

Faith has tied me deeply to this area.

For sixteen years, I have been an active member of Frinton Free Church, helping with night security, Alpha, men's ministry and community life.

I have also worked with churches across Clacton, Frinton, Walton and Jaywick. For years, I supported outreach to marginalised people at Pier Avenue Baptist Church.

My faith guides how I serve; it does not decide whom I serve. For me, faith means listening before judging, serving before preaching and refusing to write people off.

Hope backed by action

People are rarely beyond hope.

I have worked alongside alcoholics and people struggling with addiction. I have helped run AA conventions and, more recently, a cross-addiction conference in Jaywick.

That work has taught me something simple: people are rarely beyond hope, but hope has to be backed by action.

That is why I continue to explore ambitious ideas for rehabilitation, community living and small-scale local enterprise in Jaywick — practical ways for people to rebuild lives, confidence and purpose.

Jaywick and the power of belonging

See what is good — and build from there.

I have grown to love Jaywick deeply: its people, its character, its resilience and its potential. Jaywick once had a successful beach economy. I believe it can have one again — not by pretending the problems do not exist, but by seeing what is good and building from there.

I have also seen the power of community through people such as Danny Sloggett and the Happy Club. Sometimes the answer is not another report. Sometimes it is bringing people together, giving them somewhere to belong, somewhere to laugh and somewhere to be seen.

Why I am standing

To listen. To understand. To act.

From Point Clear and St Osyth, through Clacton and Jaywick, and on to Frinton and Walton, this constituency is an extraordinary tapestry of communities, characters and traditions.

I do not want to represent an abstract constituency on a map. I want to represent people and places I have known, served and cared about for decades.

That is why I am standing: to listen, to understand and to act.