
Count Binface eyes his best showing yet in Clacton by-election
Count Binface, the spoof candidate in a silver bin helmet, is challenging Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election and could record his highest vote share yet. He has a long history of poking at UK leadership, running against three prime ministers: Maidenhead (2017) as Lord Buckethead against Theresa May, Uxbridge (2019) against Boris Johnson, and 2024 against Rishi Sunak, where his best tally stood at 308 votes. In Makerfield’s 2026 by-election he won 95 votes to Labour’s Andy Burnham’s 24,927. The piece places his campaigns in the tradition of novelty candidates aiming to protest elites, while highlighting the deposit rule that costs candidates if they fail to reach 5% of the vote.











