Laurence Fox says he will stand in the Clacton byelection, which already gives this whole thing a very strong “festival line-up after the main acts pulled out” energy.
The contest was triggered by Nigel Farage’s decision to resign as MP for Clacton and immediately stand again, in what Reform are trying to frame as a grand “people versus the establishment” showdown. The slight problem with that framing is that Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Restore Britain have all said they will not stand candidates, leaving Farage’s most visible opponent as Count Binface.
That is a man dressed as a bin.
And yet, somehow, Laurence Fox looked at this situation and decided the real establishment candidate was not the privately educated former City trader with five properties and crypto billionaire friends, but the satirical space warrior with a metal bin for a head.
What Fox actually said
Fox wrote on X: “Just because the establishment is dressed with a bin instead of a face, doesn’t mean that the establishment – who applauded loudly for Andy Burnham pulling exactly the same trick – can’t come dressed as a man with a bin for a face.”
Right.
There is a lot going on there, not much of it convincing, but the gist seemed to be that Count Binface is secretly the establishment because people find him funny and because he has also stood against other politicians before.
Which, if anything, rather weakens the argument. Count Binface has made a point of standing against politicians from across the spectrum, having previously contested seats against Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Sadiq Khan. His entire act is that Westminster is ridiculous, politicians take themselves too seriously, and British democracy could sometimes do with a bit more honesty from the man wearing a bin on his head than from the people in suits insisting everything is normal.
The reaction
That did not stop Fox having a go. Sadly for him, people were very happy to explain the flaw in his argument.
Dan Hodges asked the obvious question: “So why did Count BinFace stand against Andy Burnham.” Stuzi added: “Remember when he stood against Burnham??? Get some sleep dude.” Cazzy Bear made the same point rather more bluntly: “You mean the same Bin that has stood against ALL parties in many elections? Riiiiiiiight. Its so hilarious that its got your knickers in a twist so much you now have to try and discredit a bin.”
Well, precisely.
Others focused on the simple absurdity of Fox attempting to turn a man dressed as a dustbin into the hidden hand of the British establishment. Charles Martell wrote: “The establishment is dressed as a bin! Numpty. Farage did this to himself. And this is why you should back away from politics and go get a job in Butlins.” Kelium W said: “This is pricelessly mad, even for you. Nigel Farage forced the by-election, not the bin guy, not ‘the establishment’, not ‘woke’, and if ‘the establishment’ were after him, do you really think ‘lads let’s run a guy with a bin on his head against him’ would be the obvious tactic?”
Another user put it even more cleanly: “Do you think if you say the word ‘establishment’ enough, then what you say becomes true?”
Why this keeps happening
That is increasingly the problem with the whole Reform-adjacent response to the Clacton byelection. The word “establishment” is being used as if it is a magic spell. Say it enough times and perhaps voters will forget the actual circumstances: Farage triggered this contest himself while facing serious questions about his finances, the major parties refused to play along, and Count Binface stepped into the vacuum because that is literally what Count Binface does.
Fox’s argument also ran into the rather obvious visual problem that if you are trying to accuse someone else of being the establishment, it helps if your own side does not include Nigel Farage. As one reply put it: “Am I misreading this tweet or is this idiot making the argument that COUNT BINFACE is the establishment candidate and the 5 houses, multimillionaire, privately educated stockbroker supported by multiple mainstream newspapers is not?”
The heart of it
That is the whole thing, really. Farage wants to make the contest about him versus the establishment. His supporters want to pretend the man in the bin helmet is somehow part of that establishment. But the byelection exists because Farage created it, at a moment when he is under intense scrutiny over donations, undeclared support and parliamentary standards questions.
Count Binface did not force Farage to resign. Count Binface did not tell Reform to frame this as an epic battle between the people and the powerful. Count Binface did not make the other parties stand aside.
He just turned up, in the way he always does, and immediately became the funniest and most awkward thing in the room.
Which may explain why Fox seems so annoyed.
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