So what does Clacton mean? One point is clear. It could have been much worse for Nigel Farage. Mr Farage had a stratagem. He would force a by-election, lure the serious parties on to his chosen ground, crush them at the ballot-box and then defy the Parliamentary authorities to do their worst.
But the real Parties were not born yesterday. Over the years, they - even the Liberals - have earned the right to call themselves serious. So they merely invited Nigel to go off and play by the sea-side.
That could have been very bad for Reform. The voters do not like voluntary by-elections and over the years they have often punished the parties who caused them. Polling would be in August, with many voters away. No-one was to know that the temperature would be phew, what a scorcher, or that polling day itself would break the record for heat. But as the campaign progressed, there seemed every likelihood that the turnout would lose its deposit, with Mr Farage limping home to the sounds of mickey-taking, dustbin-metal rattling and derision.
Not so. The turnout was significantly higher than in the Mayoral contest in Manchester and Nigel scored a perfectly respectable 63%. We should also compliment Count Binface, who must be hoping for more by-elections and more fun. Has there ever been a more elegant dustbin? It looked as if it was made by an armourer. That said, he surely cannot have worn it all the time. In that weather, he would have ended up with heatstroke.
As for the future, we can be clear on one point. Whatever the outcome at Clacton, Daniel Greenberg, the official in charge of standards, would not have been deflected from his tasks. He will now proceed, and £5 million is a significant sum. We await his findings.
Where Nigel Farage is concerned, there are different rumours. There are those who say that he still believes in an exalted destiny, in which the road to No.10 lies open. There are others who think that he may have lost momentum. Be that as it may, it could easily be argued that thus far, he has been the most important politician of the Century. Without him, for better or for worse, Brexit would not have happened.
Yet he might now have a double problem. First, although he is a formidable communicator, is he really a man of substance? Is it actually possible to imagine him as Prime Minister? Second, there is a rival for that post, who does have a real claim to substance. In recent months, the commentariat has been growing in respect for Kemi Badenoch. In the polls, she is comfortably ahead of her Party.
There could be a difficulty in helping it to catch up. In the early Noughties, the Tories often conducted focus groups. When they asked the participants what they thought about specific proposals, the answer was frequently encouraging: 'Like the sound of that.' 'Well it's Tory policy.' 'In that case, there must be something wrong with it.'
There is no easy solution to that. Mrs Badenoch will just have to plug away, especially on the economy. Although Andy Burnham has enjoyed his honeymoon, honeymoons do not last indefinitely. Fiscal reality supervenes. Mr Burnham is a likeable chap. Mr Farage is a cheeky chappie. For them, that may be as good as it gets. But Kemi Badenoch is just starting.