Who is Count Binface? The candidate taking on Nigel Farage in Clacton by-election

The satirical candidate is the Reform leader’s highest-profile opponent

Nigel Farage is gearing up to fight for his Clacton seat in a by-election after he announced his resignation as an MP on Tuesday afternoon. While the main parties have said they will not be fielding candidates, Count Binface has announced his intention to take him on.

The Reform UK leader officially resigned as MP for Clacton-on-Sea on Tuesday (July 7), confirming that he will stand in the resulting by-election in an attempt to win his seat back. The 62-year-old has come under intense pressure in recent weeks over claims of unregistered cash donations and support.

In a video statement posted online, Mr Farage said: “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all.”

Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter

The Reform UK leader is being investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he should have registered a £5 million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he said was needed to fund the security he required as a result of multiple threats against him. He has also faced questions over reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding in the year before he was elected.

Mr Farage insisted his £5m gift from Mr Harborne was given to him on an “unconditional basis” and has criticised the Sunday Times investigation into his finances, saying: “Standards are now being used as a political tool.”

The former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England dubbed the upcoming contest at the polls a “people versus the establishment” fight.

In the wake of Mr Farage’s announcement, several political parties declared they would not be standing candidates against him. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain have all said they will not stand candidates in the poll.

The one candidate who appears to fancy the fight is Count Binface.

Who is Count Binface?

Count Binface – real name Jonathan David Harvey – is a self-described ‘intergalactic space warrior’ who has become a familiar face of British democracy in recent years.

Known for bringing a comic element to the ballot box, he describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX, and claims to be over 5,900 years old. His name and appearance – typically seen wearing a black and grey uniform with a long silver cape and a helmet shaped somewhat like a dustbin – were taken from a character in Todd Durham’s 1984 film Hyperspace, a low-budget parody of science fiction films such as Star Wars.

The waste-themed figure’s first brush with political parody came in 2017 when he ran as ‘Lord Buckethead’ against then-prime minister Theresa May in Maidenhead. Following the 2017 election, American filmmaker Durham contacted Harvey and asserted his ownership of the character.

In response, Harvey introduced a new character, Count Binface, and stood in the 2019 UK general election.

Whenever an election is declared, it has become commonplace to see the metallic-costumed candidate standing beside suit-and-tie politicians from the main parties.

Most recently, Binface was one of 14 candidates in the Makerfield by-election, standing against Andy Burnham. He stood on a manifesto that included forcing cyclists who break the highway code to ride unicycles, bringing back Ceefax, and renaming HS2 to FFS1.

Binface’s aim is to lampoon UK politics and poke fun at Westminster’s traditions. His campaigns, while comedic, often include pointed commentary on policy, political culture, and the limitations of the two-party system. In Makerfield, he campaigned on a pledge that elected mayors should be ineligible for Parliament until they have served their term in office.

Some of his other most notable policies include reducing the price of 99 Flake ice creams to 99p, introducing conscription for former prime ministers, and renaming London Bridge to “Phoebe Waller-Bridge” and Hammersmith Bridge to “Wayne Bridge“.

Declaring his intention to run against Farage in the Clacton by-election, Count Binface said: “I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house. Nigel Farage says he wants the people versus the establishment. So be it. Leave him to me.”

After his announcement, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy.

“And look at this, eh? The fact that you are interviewing me on the Today programme, because all the other parties aren’t standing, says more about them than it does about me.

“Are they running scared from old Binny, or do they think that Nigel’s running a cunning stunt? And I pronounced that carefully at 8.55 in the morning.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves accepted Mr Farage’s request to be appointed steward and bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, the formal mechanism for him to resign, on Wednesday afternoon.

She said: “It is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better. But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.”