After Nigel Farage announced he would quit his Clacton constituency and stand in a by-election, one rival immediately declared: "Game on, Nige." The challenge came not from Labour, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats — all of whom have said they will not field candidates — but from Count Binface, the serial election candidate whose real name is Jonathan Harvey.
Binface, a man who dresses as a bin, told the BBC his policies include "get at least one affordable house, nationalising Adele and bring back Ceefax". His partner, Sarah Daykin, a mother-of-two comedian, is set to be thrust into the spotlight as the most unlikely of political wives.
“Count Binface will challenge Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election after major parties decline to field candidates.”
The Reform UK leader's decision to trigger the contest has already drawn sharp criticism. On LBC, Robert Jenrick launched a bitter attack on Binface, saying: "Nigel has been in the House of Commons now for two years, so he's used to people who've got robotic voices and a head full of rubbish, so I'm sure he'll be able to take on Binface."
But Binface hit back, telling HuffPost UK: "Has Robert Jenrick just confirmed that I would fit perfectly well inside the House of Commons? So Reform UK confirms Binface is not a novelty candidate?"
The by-election, expected to take place on August 13, comes as Farage faces mounting controversy over his finances. Parliament's standards commissioner is investigating a £5 million gift he received from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire shortly before he ran to become an MP and did not declare. It has also emerged that the Reform boss received financial support from convicted fraudster George Cottrell. The Times reported that the Metropolitan Police are investigating donations of at least £500,000 made to Reform by Cottrell's mother, Fiona.
Writing in the New Statesman, a commentator noted that one crucial element of the by-election is that it sharpens the already bitter fight between Reform and the Tories. Farage hopes the contest will reset politics in Reform's favour, just as Andy Burnham changed Labour politics with one by-election. But the danger for him, the article suggested, is not losing his "end-of-the-pier show" but it being "a little boring". For the great showman of politics, that would be worse even than being pursued over his finances.