Count Binface
Satirical 'unity candidate' who has stood in multiple recent UK by-elections including Clacton and Makerfield.
Last refreshed: 8 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why is a comedian in a wheelie-bin costume the only person standing against Farage?
Timeline for Count Binface
Polled ahead of Farage in a national head-to-head preference survey
UK Local Elections 2026: Clacton by-election set for 13 AugustDeclared as the sole other candidate standing against Farage
UK Local Elections 2026: Farage to quit Clacton and refight itMentioned in: Every party but Binface boycotts Farage
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: Burnham storms back to win Makerfield
UK Local Elections 2026Who is Count Binface?
Is Count Binface standing against Nigel Farage in Clacton?
How many votes did Count Binface get in Makerfield?
Background
As of 7 July, Count Binface is the only candidate to have declared against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election Farage triggered by announcing his resignation; Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have all said they will not stand.
Binface, the satirical alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey, has stood at a string of UK elections since 2019, including against Boris Johnson in Uxbridge and Theresa May in Maidenhead, campaigning on joke manifestos while functioning as a genuine protest-vote outlet. At the Makerfield by-election on 18 June he took 95 votes, finishing behind Andy Burnham's winning total of 24,927.
His recurring presence at high-profile by-elections has become a fixture of British political theatre, offering a low-stakes protest option when serious parties calculate that contesting a seat is not worth the exposure, as in Clacton.
