Voters cast their ballots on Thursday in a local English election triggered by the leader of the populist Reform party, Nigel Farage, who dubbed the contest, “the Establishment versus the people.”
Farage’s only opposition comes from independents and fringe parties, together with an array of novelty characters, including a BBC comedian known as Count Binface who wears a trash can on his head.
Facing 33 Opponents
The decision by Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the newer populist party, Restore, not to put up candidates has left Farage facing a record-breaking 33 rivals, with the contest producing the longest ballot paper in British political history.
The British media has given a substantial amount of attention to Count Binface and the possibility that a novelty character could beat Farage—but the polls suggest the result will not be close. A poll of voter intentions by Survation put Farage on 73 percent with Binface on 20 percent.
Binface was created by comedian Jonathan Harvey, who has run against three prime ministers over the last decade, which he says he does to make fun of them and to highlight local issues of concern.
Novelty candidates and fringe or single-issue parties are a common feature of British elections, where it costs only 500 pounds ($676) to enter a contest. The Clacton by-election in the commuter belt county of Essex in the south-east of England has seen an unusually high number of such candidates, however.
Branded a ‘Circus’
Candidates include three from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, a staple of high-profile elections since it was founded in 1982 by the late Screaming Lord Sutch, a musician born David Sutch, and current leader Howling Laud Hope. Baron Von Thunderclap, Nick the Incredible Flying Brick and Hope are all candidates in Clacton.
A record 20 independent candidates are standing, including one who calls himself Woke Trump Carrzee.
Animal rights campaigner Rob Pownall, who stands in elections dressed as a fox, announced he was dropping out of the election in July, saying that what was “already something of a farce” had now become “a circus.”
Candidates get their deposits back only if they receive 5 percent of the votes cast. In his most recent run, against Burnham in Makerfield, Binface received 95 votes, or 0.2 percent of the total, but is likely to receive more votes this time. Some voters who normally support the other political parties have said they would vote for Binface because they are opposed to Farage and Reform.
Those who represent small but serious political parties include William Stuart James Clouston of the Social Democratic Party, which describes itself as a patriotic party with an emphasis on family values, national sovereignty and co-operation between the public and private sectors.
Actor-turned-activist Laurence Fox, who founded the populist Reclaim Party, is also a candidate. He criticized the level of attention given to Binface on X, paying tribute to Farage and writing on July 8., “They want it to be about a binface against a man who stood up for you.”
Clacton residents were presented at polling stations with a ballot paper roughly three feet long, according to local media The Clacton and Frinton Gazette.
Turnout was expected to be low, as it typically is in by-elections. This election is taking place during the school summer holidays, when many residents are away. Britain is also in the grip of another heatwave, which could keep some voters away from polling stations.
Farage said the by-election would allow his constituents to judge the allegations that he failed to properly declare a 5 million pound ($6.8 million) donation from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based British cryptocurrency billionaire. In his resignation speech, he hit out at the UK media for what he described as a “pile on” over his affairs and intrusion into his family’s privacy.
Under parliamentary rules, lawmakers must normally declare donations received in the year before an election within a month of taking office. Parliament’s standards commissioner has opened an investigation into whether any rules were broken.
If Farage wins the contest, as expected, and is ultimately found to have breached parliamentary rules, he could face sanctions from the House of Commons. If he is suspended from Parliament for more than 10 days, this could trigger a recall petition from his constituents and force another by-election, at a cost of hundreds of thousands to the public purse.
The other main parties have made clear they will stand candidates as usual if this happens, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying this would be “the real election.”
She told LBC Radio on July 7 that in her view, Farage “didn’t think it through” before resigning, did not “read the rules” of parliament and believed he could stop the investigation into his finances by standing down.
“This is a fake by-election, and he and Count Binface can duke it out,” she said.
Growing Discontent
Clacton was once a popular holiday destination for Londoners but is now a faded, socially deprived seaside town, with almost half of working-age people there classed as economically inactive—one of the highest rates in Britain.
In the July 2024 national election, Reform won Clacton with a 46 percent share of the vote, comfortably ahead of the second-place Conservative Party, on 28 percent.
Farage, who was a member of the European Parliament for 21 years before Brexit, is considered by many commentators the favorite to become prime minister following the next national election, due in 2029.
