Nigel Farage will contest the Clacton by-election against 33 other candidates in what may be the highest number of candidates ever to stand in a UK by-election. The Reform UK leader resigned as MP on 7 July after a parliamentary investigation and increased scrutiny over his finances, but is standing again for the Essex seat. Voters go to the polls on 13 August.
According to Tendring District Council, the 34-candidate list is thought to be a modern record, surpassing the 26 who stood in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election in July 2008. That contest was triggered by Tory Sir David Davis and similarly ignored by the main Westminster parties.
“Nigel Farage to face 33 rivals including Count Binface and Laurence Fox in record 34-candidate Clacton by-election on 13 August.”
For Clacton, Farage is the only candidate from a Westminster party. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party all declined to take part. His highest-profile opponents include Count Binface – revealed by the New Statesman to be actor Jon Harvey – and the actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox, standing for The Reclaim Party.
The candidate list, posted outside Clacton Town Hall and on the council’s website, features 20 independents and a number of joke candidates. Three are from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party: Nick The Incredible Flying Brick, Howling Laud Hope, and Baron Von Thunderclap. Others include Woke Trump Carrzee (Independent), Joseph 77, and John Stevens (Rejoin EU).
The full roster ranges from the serious – such as Adham Alkhatip from The Forward Party and Kai Stephens from the British Democrats – to the eccentric. Count Binface is only one of several candidates with theatrical names. Farage’s decision to resign and stand again has been defended by him as a necessary step, but the by-election will test whether his personal appeal can overcome a fragmented field and the absence of major party opposition.