Nigel Farage resigned as Clacton MP last week, triggering a by-election that the major parties have all but abandoned. Hours later, a man dressed as a bin posted online: “Game on, Nige.”
Count Binface, whose real name is Jonathan Harvey, is one of the few candidates willing to take on the Reform UK leader after Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats said they would not field candidates. His policies include building “at least one affordable house”, nationalising Adele and bringing back Ceefax.
“Comedy candidates Count Binface and Mr Fishfinger stand against Nigel Farage in Clacton by-election as major parties boycott.”
Now he has company. A second comedy candidate, Mr Fishfinger, has entered the race, vowing to “batter” Farage and branding his resignation a load of “codswallop”. Born Paul Ellis, the 55-year-old site engineer changed his name by deed poll after locals in Westmorland and Lonsdale said they would rather be led by a fish finger than the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron — whom he fought in a 2017 by-election.
His political platform includes replacing Admiral Nelson’s Trafalgar Square statue with Captain Birdseye and changing the national anthem to Cod Save the King. “I look forward to watching Mr Farage argue with an 8ft-tall intergalactic space warrior shaped as a bin and a man dressed as a fish finger,” Mr Fishfinger told the Sun.
He needs ten nominations from Clacton locals to be eligible. “I’ve been in the freezer for nearly a decade after my last by-election bid in Cumbria, but I’ve mullet over and I’m ready to land the big one,” he said.
Farage’s resignation followed a row over donations he received before being elected in 2024. He is being investigated by Westminster’s ethics watchdog over a £5m gift from Thailand-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne, and has faced reports that he failed to declare support from financier George Cottrell, convicted of wire fraud in the US. Farage denies any wrongdoing and says he will be judged by voters.
One of Labour’s biggest donors, eco-energy tycoon Dale Vince, has offered to bankroll Count Binface in the contest, according to the Sun.
The by-election sharpens the already bitter fight between Reform and the Tories, who came a distant second in Clacton two years ago. The New Statesman notes that the right-wing media has been shifting against Farage and towards Kemi Badenoch, which has infuriated him. Farage hopes this by-election will reset politics in Reform’s favour, as Andy Burnham once did for Labour. But with both Labour and the Tories absent, the danger for the great showman is not losing the seat, but that “it just being a little boring”.