Farage wanted this byelection to be a referendum on the establishment. Count Binface has spent the whole campaign asking whether Farage might actually be its clearest representative.
Voters go to the polls Thursday, 13 August, with a record 34 candidates on the ballot, independents, minor parties, Laurence Fox, and three Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidates. Farage remains the overwhelming favourite. The person pulling most of the attention behind him is Binface, self-described intergalactic space warrior from Sigma IX.
Farage triggered this himself, resigning as Clacton’s MP last month while under scrutiny over his finances, then immediately announcing he’d stand again. “This will be a people versus the establishment by-election,” he said. “It’s a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment, to frankly tell them where to go.”
The problem: that claim looks considerably shakier when the man standing opposite him had to crowdfund the money to get his own name on the ballot.
Why Farage actually triggered this
Farage was under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over whether he should have declared a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. He says it was personal, received before returning to frontline politics, and partly meant to cover security costs, and denies breaking any rules. An investigation existing doesn’t mean a breach has been established, that’s exactly what the process exists to determine. It paused when Farage stopped being an MP, and could restart if he’s re-elected. Some of his own advisers apparently didn’t understand that before he resigned.
Asked why he hadn’t declared the £5m, Farage said: “Because it’s not political, that’s why.” He also complained about private financial information becoming public and claimed his computer had been hacked. Asked why he hadn’t referred himself for investigation if he was confident there was no case to answer: “Why should I? We’ve looked at this with lawyers and everything. There is no case to answer.” He later called the reporting the “final straw” and said Clacton’s voters should judge his conduct.
What those voters can’t actually decide is whether he complied with the Commons Code of Conduct. Win Thursday, and the standards process could follow him straight back into Parliament.
Binface finds the centre of the political spectrum
Binface told an American interviewer he was an “intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet Sigma IX and part-time democratic politician on Earth.” Asked where he sat politically: “I am the galactic centre. Everything else just revolves around me like little planets.” Asked to explain that in American political terms, he just repeated the same line in an American accent.
@KuroKusoge: “Hahahaha can you put that in American political terms? *proceeds with an American accent 😂😂😂” @MaďarskýTýpekBudimír: “That ‘can you put that in American political terms’ part was so funny.”
Challenged over whether campaigning in a costume made a mockery of the election, he replied: “You are American. Look at your president. You tell me who’s making a mockery of it.” He drew a specific line between his own joke candidacy and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 result: “If nobody votes for me, nobody votes for me. I don’t claim it’s rigged. I don’t go to the Capitol on January 6.”
@YdnarSnorgle: “As an American, I cannot stress enough how deeply appropriate Binface’s lecture about January 6 was. If anyone is a bigger, or more offensive, joke than Farage, it’s us.” @mareky1234: “I loved how he sent a right royal rocket up the Yankers Arse. Especially when he threw Jan 6 back in their faces. Brilliant stuff, Binny.”
‘The only fresh thing on the menu’
Binface called himself “the only fresh thing on the menu” and promised “a little bit of secret sauce.” @avarandado: “‘The only fresh thing on the menu’ is a brilliant campaign slogan!”
His manifesto covers everything from nationalising Adele to restoring the 99 Flake to 99p, building at least one affordable home, and, more pointedly, spending more time in Clacton than Washington DC, a direct dig at criticism of Farage’s US trips. His musical broadcast referenced “unconditional gifts with a curious whiff” without needing to spell out which £5m gift he meant. Another pledge would make oil and gas companies pay for solar panels on people’s homes, an idea he credits to a 10-year-old named Jack. “It’s the kids’ planet, well, and mine, not yours. Why shouldn’t kids have a role in my manifesto?”
@robinroper: “Solar panels for all, paid for by the oil companies, certainly gets my vote, as well as 99p 99s.” @richardboldbrooker6327: “When Count Binface, a comedy satirist, has better policies than the incumbent political power then you know it is beyond a joke.”
Who’s actually the establishment here?
Farage’s spent years selling himself as an outsider taking on Britain’s political class. That didn’t land with many people in the comments. @John-Smith-999: “It’s funny because Nigel is the epitome of the establishment.” @chrisose: “Owns multiple homes, belongs to multiple private clubs, worked in the investment industry and has billionaire benefactors giving him millions of pounds as ‘gifts’. Farage is about as establishment as you can get.”
@stalbans1962 put it as a direct question: “How can a public school-educated multi-millionaire with a townhouse next to Buckingham Palace be considered part of the establishment compared to the ‘real establishment representative’ who had to crowdfund his candidacy for the London Mayoral election?” @dfuher968: “I still find it astounding that anyone can see Farage as anti-establishment. He’s as establishment as it gets.” @Amdor summed the contest up as “Count Binface vs Establishment.” @thomziq reduced it to three lines: “❌ Reform. ❌ Restore. ✅ Recyclon!”
Others zeroed in on the £5m itself. @JohnDrakard: “Do you remember Farage saying ‘What price sovereignty’? Turns out it was £5 million!” @YdnarSnorgle: “Farage: claims the 5 mill was just a non-political gift. Also Farage, 5 seconds later: gives a 100% political excuse for receiving the 5 mill.” @CatHamster-wf5xs kept it short: “Vote Bin, not Bung.”
Farage wanted a byelection, got a ‘bin-election’
He’s still expected to win Thursday. The major parties declined to stand and the opposition vote is split across an enormous ballot. That’s not the same as the campaign going the way he wanted it to. He’s been chanted at while canvassing, watched his opponent get international coverage, and spent weeks explaining why beating a man in a bin should count as a revolutionary blow against Britain’s elite.
@nenad8845: “Farage wanted by-election, got BIN-election!” @FrancisPinder: “Historic battle? What. Hysterical more like.” @vcp93 called it “between a Bin and a Tool,” adding: “Make your vote Count!” @GoAway-i7z put it simplest: “Vote for the Bin. Not the rubbish.”
Binface probably isn’t becoming Clacton’s next MP. He’s still found the actual weak point in Farage’s campaign. Farage can win the vote and go back to Parliament, but beating a comedy candidate by a wide margin doesn’t prove Clacton’s cleared him of anything. The parliamentary investigation, if revived, decides whether he followed the rules. The election only decides whether he gets his seat back.
Farage told voters to stick two fingers up at the establishment. Binface has spent the campaign giving them a different idea of exactly where those fingers might be pointing.
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