Count Binface has released his party election broadcast for Clacton, and a man in a silver bin costume has somehow produced one of the more memorable campaign videos of the year.
With polling day a week away, Binface turns his attention squarely to Farage in a musical three-minute pitch that takes in the financial controversies, the trips to America, local landmarks, and the faintly absurd circumstances of the byelection itself. The message: “make Clacton clean.”
Binface goes musical
The broadcast has Binface touring the constituency delivering a campaign song, considerably more polished than you’d expect from an intergalactic space warrior from Sigma IX. Hi-vis footage, shots around Clacton and Jaywick, local businesses, and jokes aimed squarely at Farage throughout.
He promises to spend more time in Clacton than Washington DC, recycling the strongest line from his manifesto and jabbing directly at criticism of Farage’s frequent US trips. Then comes the money line: “unconditional gifts with a curious whiff,” before pivoting to voters making history by turfing Farage out. It never names the £5m gift directly. It doesn’t need to.
Farage has faced sustained scrutiny over the £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, undeclared when he entered Parliament. He disputes breaking any rules; the standards investigation was paused when he resigned his seat. That row is the actual backdrop to why he quit as Clacton’s MP and immediately stood again, framing the vote as a chance for constituents to judge his conduct. Binface has spent much of the campaign cheerfully pointing out a constituency election can’t actually determine whether parliamentary rules were broken.
The manifesto jokes have made it into the song
The broadcast follows Binface’s 20-point manifesto, mixing deliberately ridiculous policies with several genuinely pointed ones: spending more time in Clacton than Washington, forcing MPs who defect parties to face a byelection, barring resigning MPs from immediately standing for the seat they’ve just vacated, building at least one affordable house, and refusing £5m gifts from crypto billionaires “on Earth.” Plus the standard Binface fare, 99p Flakes and badly positioned hand dryers.
It’s satire, but it works because a lot of it maps directly onto things voters actually complain about. Even the “more time in Clacton” pledge has real bite given how much Farage’s own attendance record has become a campaign issue. Binface has already gotten plenty of mileage out of that, after Farage’s apparently digitally edited Clacton Pier anniversary post got him a merciless parody in response.
Farage is still miles ahead where it actually counts
There’s one fairly large obstacle to Binface becoming Clacton’s next MP: the actual voters of Clacton. A constituency poll this week put Farage on 73%, Binface on 20%, a huge lead with polling day approaching, according to the Guardian.
Don’t confuse that with the earlier national Ipsos polling, which found 33% of British adults nationally would prefer Binface to win against 21% for Farage. That was never a Clacton forecast, it was people across Britain, not voters in the constituency. Binface becoming an MP remains a genuine long shot. His supporters are enjoying themselves regardless.
‘I do not vote for joke candidates with no serious policies’
The YouTube comments turned into an international rally fast.
@elchicosol1: “I hope Clacton realizes it’s in a unique position. They can be the catalyst for something far greater.”
@rjs1138: “Make your vote Count! Binface for the landfill victory!”
@mceajc: “I am tired of living through once-in-a-lifetime disasters. Give me a once-in-a-lifetime reason to celebrate. Please, Clacton. I need it.”
@Ea-nāṣirFromMesopotamia summed the whole campaign up in six words: “A true can of the people.”
@an1_uk had the best line: “I do not vote for joke candidates with no serious policies. That’s why I’m voting Count Binface.” @Booxyboy4000 took the same joke from the other direction: “I’ve had enough of joke MPs promising undeliverable manifestos. That is why I shall not be voting for Nigel Farage this year.”
@flytoday appreciated the production values: “The high vis gear is 💯”
The overseas support is genuinely growing too. @usernamemaxleclerc3014 wrote in from Australia. @psychoschock9119 checked in from Germany, @zatodespentes from France, @Dagher_AlSakr from Egypt, and @HaydenHatTrick promised an Australian watch party on election night. That international interest keeps becoming a running feature of this whole byelection, with ABC News Australia already having interviewed Binface directly about taking on Farage.
‘The world is watching, Clacton’
There are 34 candidates standing on 13 August, so Binface isn’t technically Farage’s only alternative. But every major Westminster party sat this one out, leaving an unusually crowded ballot of independents and fringe candidates. Farage remains overwhelmingly likely to return to Parliament.
Binface has still managed something genuinely hard to quantify. He’s turned a byelection Farage wanted to frame as a referendum on himself into a contest people in Australia, Germany, France, Egypt and the US are actively posting encouragement about, for a man wearing a bin, to defeat him.
@paulthew2: “The world is watching, Clacton. Make history (great again).” @DoctorDelirium: “The people of Clacton now have the chance to pull off the most complex and ingenious joke in the history of humankind. A monument to English humour.”
Farage will almost certainly win. If he doesn’t, someone’s going to have a genuinely awkward conversation with the House of Commons authorities about whether the bin stays on during the oath.
Leave a Reply