ABC News Australia has covered the Clacton byelection. Not a mention in passing, an actual segment, with a reporter interviewing Count Binface in person.
The setup by now needs no introduction on this site: Farage quit Parliament after a donation scandal, then announced he’d stand again in the resulting byelection. “I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he told the ABC. The major parties refused to field candidates, calling it a circus. That left Count Binface, the comedy writer Jonathan Harvey in a bin costume, as Farage’s main opponent.
The interview itself
ABC’s Elias Clure asked Binface directly why he was “going after” Farage. “Well, I think going after is quite an aggressive phrase,” Binface replied. “I am participating in the wonder of democracy. It’s pretty darn clear what the choice is. Nigel Farage or not Nigel Farage. Easy peasy.”
Political analyst Tony Travers gave the segment its more serious framing, describing Binface as part of “a rich seam of British satire and humor, which in the end wouldn’t normally get a much of a mention.” Asked if he thought he could win, Binface didn’t hesitate: “Yes, we tin can is one of my slogans.”
There’s a real constitutional wrinkle buried at the end of the report. Parliamentary rules mean an MP can’t actually sit in the Commons wearing a bin on their head. Nobody’s tested that one yet.
How Australians reacted
The comments underneath the clip read almost identically to the reaction every time this story crosses a new border. @Maebbie: “I havent bin this optimistic in a while.” @Watchesnchess: “Gosh I hope Bin face wins. It would be the highlight of what has been a dreadful year.” @Thoompa896 called “Yes we tin can” the best political slogan they’d ever heard.
@Brit-n-Bobbel summed up the actual news value here better than any of the analysts: “Even the Aussies are reporting on a Bin now, lol XD.”
Some viewers picked up on a small word choice in the ABC script itself. @EelisWalking wrote: “I think the journalist meant to say ‘populist Reform UK leader Nigel Farage..’ not popular. Nigel Farage is not popular.” Given his approval rating has just hit a post-election low, that correction landed with a fair number of people.
Others just wanted to talk logistics. @juhosworld: “People all over the country have been showing support for Count Binface by putting their bins in front of their houses every week.” @stephennewton2777 made the more analytical point: “Normally in an election voters go and vote for a candidate. In Clacton there may be a situation where a significant number of voters from across the political spectrum vote against Farage by voting for Count Binface.”
@EpicEmpiresRPG raised the actual constitutional question underneath the joke: “Think about the logic of Nigel Farage (or the lack of it). If he committed a different crime (like murdering someone) could he ‘let the people of Clacton decide’ if he was guilty by forcing an election? If you commit a crime you should be subject to the same procedures and laws as anyone else.”
@Skeptic236 did the maths on the whole exercise: “What is not silly is Farage’s stunt is going to cost 360k pounds for the by-election, plus possibly another similar amount when he’s booted for accepting shady ‘donations’, and not declaring them (and another by-election).”
Why this keeps happening
MSNBC did essentially the same segment a few weeks ago, asking American viewers whether Farage was “better than a trash can.” Now ABC’s covered it in Australia. A byelection in a single English constituency has generated coverage on three continents, which says something Tony Travers’s “rich seam of satire” line doesn’t quite capture: this isn’t really a story about a joke candidate anymore. It’s a story about how visibly Farage’s own byelection strategy has backfired, on a scale big enough that foreign broadcasters keep finding it newsworthy on its own terms.
Whether Binface actually wins on 13 August is still the longest of long shots. But the sheer amount of international attention his campaign has pulled in, entirely off the back of Farage’s own decision to trigger this contest, has already made the byelection a very different story from the one Farage was hoping to tell.
4 responses to ““Nigel Farage or not Nigel Farage”: Count Binface takes Clacton campaign to Australian television”
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It’d be great for politics if Bin Face won non of the politicians are any good. They’re all lying hypocritical thieves
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Always rely on the Aussies for a fresh viewpoint, a vote for the Count is like a negative vote for Farage. I will remind everyone that not more than 50% voted for Brexit, only 37% actually voted to leave, negative votes matter.
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