Clacton byelection likely to be two-man race between Reform leader and Binface

‘In the unlikely event that the humans of Clacton prefer me to old Nige then I will do my very best to represent them,’ Binface told the Guardian. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters View image in fullscreen ‘In the unlikely event that the humans of Clacton prefer me to old Nige then I will do my very best to represent them,’ Binface told the Guardian. Photograph: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters Count Binface on Clacton byelection: ‘I didn’t know old Farage was going to self-detonate’ Parody candidate, expected to be Reform leader’s only challenger for seat, suggests ‘perhaps it’s all a fever dream’ Count Binface had been looking forward to a relaxing journey back to his home planet of Sigma IX when Nigel Farage dropped a political bombshell on Tuesday. Instead, Britain’s hottest new political property said he was left with no choice but to perform a swift intergalactic handbrake turn when news broke that Farage had resigned as MP for Clacton, triggering the possibility of a byelection in the English coastal constituency he has represented since 2024. Farage, the leader of the rightwing Reform UK party, has been accused of using the poll to shake off a deepening scandal over financial gifts he has received. But the plan appears to have backfired after his main rivals announced they would boycott the byelection . The Clacton byelection is now likely to be a two-man race between the Reform leader and Binface. “I didn’t know old Farage was going to self detonate … did I?” said Binface, a veteran of British elections, where the parody candidate is something of a mainstay .The 5,900-year-old leader of the Recyclons is the creation of Jon Harvey, a comedian from Lewisham in south-east London, who has run against former prime ministers including Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, as well as Theresa May in his previous incarnation as Lord Buckethead.Farage has sought to portray the byelection as a “people versus the establishment” contest, prompting Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, to describe Binface as the “people’s candidate”. The prime minster, Keir Starmer, even addressed his candidacy on the sidelines of the Nato summit. “I think it’s actually against Labour party rules to endorse another [candidate],” he said. For the man himself, or rather the alien, it’s all come as a bit of a shock. The question of whether he might even win is one that he is reluctant to countenance. “It’s earliest days yet and there is a long old road to go, but if in the unlikely event that the humans of Clacton prefer to me to old Nige then I will do my very best to represent them,” he told the Guardian. He said that he has been inundated over the past 48 hours with emails and messages from Binface activists offering to knock on doors and deliver leaflets on his behalf in what could yet emerge as an electoral shock on a par with when Hartlepool United’s mascot, H’Angus the Monkey, was elected as mayor of the northern English town . “I don’t want them to go marching around for me. I