Nigel Farage has billed his byelection as a clash with the powers that be. To wit: Laurence Fox, a naked celebrity and a man with a bin on his head

Quick look at the Clacton byelection field as it stands: Nigel Farage, Count Binface, Piers Corbyn, Laurence Fox, some bloke who’s been on Married at First Sight and Dating Naked ... anyway, there’s more, but you get the picture. It’s going to be a long hot summer. By the end of this contest Clacton will be begging to be left behind again.

To recap, Reform leader Farage this week delivered an address to the nation on his political future, which can effectively be summarised as “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the messiest bitch of all?” Under fire over his recently exposed penchant for taking mental amounts of money and benefits from Thailand-based cryptophiliacs/convicted fraudsters and their mums, Nigel has decided to seek validation by asking the voters of Clacton to rule on him. So yes, Farage has triggered a byelection – but he’s also triggered anyone who’s ever been in a toxic relationship where their partner forces them into public declarations of loyalty. It’s all very “I always choose you over everyone, Nigel, and I hate that my family are trying to destroy us”.

Marina Hyde’s new book, What a Time to be Alive!, is out in September (Guardian Faber Publishing, £20). To support the Guardian, order your signed copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

People in Thornton-Cleveleys want answers on the impact of widespread contamination around the chemical plant

“Everything I wanted was finally coming to fruition. A house, a change of job and getting married,” says Liz Hurst, looking out to sea on a hot evening in Blackpool.

“But then all of a sudden, everything was put on hold.” Fifteen years ago, Hurst was diagnosed with kidney cancer aged 32.

Jayèma on working with England stars, a new look for Raphinha and forging a friendship with Lamine Yamal’s family

Jayèma has had a World Cup like no other. Who else but the London hair stylist has worked with footballers from England, Brazil, the United States and Canada, and hung out with Lamine Yamal and his family, while having no idea who Lionel Messi is until recently?

Who else but Jayèma has been to her first game of men’s football and left before the end of a tumultuous match between Mexico and England at the Azteca Stadium because the atmosphere was too “rowdy”? Who else has made so many footballers feel especially good about their hair and themselves, but the hardest-working stylist and male groomer in elite sport?

The five of us were supposed to leave for Cornwall at 9am. But it was noon before we set off and past midnight when we arrived. No wonder two of the family left the next morning

It was a last-minute May half-term break. We knew the cottage, lent to us by a relative, would be a squeeze for my husband, three teenage daughters and me. “But hey,” I told my unconvinced gang, “it’s near the beach – we’ll hardly be inside anyway.”

One daughter had a party the night before; she promised to be home by midnight, and we agreed we would begin the six-hour drive at 9am. Said daughter arrived back as I was making my morning tea. She was still drunk, and she had lost her phone.

Six months on from the bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters, families remembering loved ones at their graves at Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran tell their stories

Family members gather to mourn Sepehr, who was 25 when he was killed in the January protests

A woman at Behesht-e Zahra prays for those killed in January’s protests

Maxxing trends – going all in on a particular trait, habit, quality or pastime – tend to burn brightly and briefly. But how many of the following are real?

It started more than a decade ago with looksmaxxing, a disturbing manosphere-based strategy for optimising personal appearance through diet, exercise, surgery or smashing your jawbone. Back then, “maxxing” carried with it an unwholesome sense of overkill for its own sake. Even that extra X – maxing out the word in a way that served no orthographic purpose – seemed to be a symptom.

Over time the -maxxing suffix has come to mean going all in on a particular trait, habit, quality or pastime, generally in a manner that misses the point. Booksmaxxing, for example, seems to be less about reading, and more about coming across as optimally bookish in your dating profile. Sleepmaxxing is about getting as much sleep as you can, rather than as much as you need.

Death of 78-year-old former MP and TV personality was announced on Friday by her management

A murder investigation has been launched after the suspicious death of the former MP Ann Widdecombe at her home on Dartmoor, in Devon, police have said.

)fficers were called to an address at Haytor by the ambulance service at around 11.40am on Thursday.

Twenty-three people missing and at least four Britons thought to be among those who died fleeing Almería blaze

At least 12 people have been killed and 23 are unaccounted for after one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires broke out in the south-eastern province of Almería as the country endures its second heatwave of the summer.

The regional government of Andalucía said the victims, four of whom are believed to be British, had died while trying to escape the flames near the village of Bédar in the municipality of Los Gallardos.

Updates from Friday’s men’s semi-final action in SW19
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What a walk this is, through the corridor and history, down the stairs, past the trophies and by the board; there goes the fear again.

Aha, here they come…

Exclusive: Sources say Labour whips are calling MPs urging them to heed union’s warning and not vote for cap

One of Britain’s biggest trade unions has told Labour MPs not to vote for a cap on political donations next week, saying it could endanger union funding for the party.

The GMB union has written to its affiliated MPs urging them not to vote for amendments to the representation of the people bill that would cap donations at either £100,000 or £1m.