Nigel Farage’s only prominent rival in the Clacton by-election is a 40-something comedian dressed as a bin.
Count Binface – the creation of Jon Harvey, a comedian from Lewisham who has run against former prime ministers including Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson – posted online after Farage resigned as MP: “Game on, Nige.”
“Nigel Farage's only prominent by-election rival is Count Binface after main parties boycott Clacton.”
Farage triggered the contest on Tuesday, officially quitting the seat he won in 2024 with a majority of 8,405 and 46.2% of the vote. Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all said they would not field candidates, accusing the Reform UK leader of a desperate stunt to shake off a deepening scandal over a £5m gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne.
“I didn’t know old Farage was going to self-detonate … did I?” Binface told the Guardian, suggesting the by-election was now likely to be a two-man race. The self-declared 5,900-year-old leader of the Recyclons, who previously stood as Lord Buckethead, said: “In the unlikely event that the humans of Clacton prefer me to old Nige, then I will do my very best to represent them.”
The mockery was swift. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “It is a farce and a desperate distraction … if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.” TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “It’s perfectly fitting for Nigel Farage to go up against a bin given the amount of rubbish he talks.” Prime minister Keir Starmer described the by-election plan as “pathetic” and said Farage had been “utterly exposed … absolutely up to his neck in sleaze”.
Farage, however, sought to frame the contest as a “people versus the establishment” fight. Speaking on Wednesday, he told the BBC: “I’ve done my absolute best to put [Clacton] on the map in terms of tourism … I know the road getting here is a pain but, actually, when you get here you’ve got great beaches.” He promised to fix potholes, halt housing developments, and said: “You give me a big vote and we’ll continue our political revolution. If you don’t do it then I think the establishment will just go on and go on working together in an attempt to crush a genuine chance at political change.”
Asked why he did not declare benefits provided by convicted criminal George Cottrell, Farage called the questions “utterly spurious”. He told GB News: “It seems that the media and political classes want to paint me out to be like a war criminal … I don’t get a chance to properly answer it.”
Actor-turned-musician Laurence Fox and Forward Party leader Adham Alkhatip have also announced they will stand. But with the main parties boycotting, the contest has become a stage for Farage’s greatest fear: not defeat, but a dull show.
As the New Statesman noted, “the danger for him is not losing his end-of-the-pier show, but it just being a little boring. For the great showman of politics, that would be worse, even, than being pursued over his finances.”