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| Britain |
| Accused of calling stunt election to avoid scrutiny, UK’s Farage faces joke candidate |
| 2026-08-14 |
| [IsraelTimes] Head of anti-immigration Reform party expected to beat Count Binface, a man wearing trash can on his head, as major parties snub special election in small seaside resort outside London. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration party Reform UK, had hoped a special election Thursday for his Parliament seat would help quell awkward questions about his finances. But with the major parties refusing to field candidates in the election, voters in a small seaside resort outside London are choosing between a man with eyes on the prime minister’s office and a random assortment of candidates, led by a man wearing a trash can on his head. Farage triggered the vote last month when he quit his seat in the hope that it would put to bed questions about his finances and result in a resounding victory over his main political rivals from the Labour and Conservative parties. He said he would let voters judge him in a "people versus the establishment" contest. But his political foes described the move as a stunt and opted not to play ball. Farage is instead facing opponents like Count Binface, a political satirist posing as a comic space alien with a keen interest in earthly matters, including the positioning of a hand dryer in the men’s toilet in a pub in west London. While Farage is widely expected to win the race, questions about the millions of pounds in donations that he had received will persist. The election is a novelty with a record 34 candidates, including Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party. They have pounded the streets of Clacton over the past few weeks as they seek to win the support of around 80,000 voters. Given the number of candidates, Clacton residents will be presented with a ballot paper around a meter long (three feet). That’s not going to be easy to navigate. Turnout is widely expected to be low, as it often is in special elections. In the July 2024 general election, Farage faced eight rivals and garnered 21,225 votes, or 46.2% of the total. Turnout was 58.7%. When he stood down on July 7, Farage described the scrutiny of his finances as an "establishment hit job" and a media-driven "witch-hunt." His decision to stand down put a pause to the parliamentary investigation, but if he wins on Thursday, as most pollsters expect, it is set to start again. If he’s found to have breached Parliament’s rules, then he could face a recall petition in Clacton, which may lead to another special election later this year, costing the British taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds more. The difference is that in that one, the other parties would choose to put up candidates. Farage’s decision came weeks after Andy Burnham returned to Parliament in a special election in the Makerfield constituency near Manchester. Joke candidates are a long-standing and cherished tradition in British elections so long as they meet the rules and pay the deposit of 500 pounds ($675) required of all those standing. They only get it back if they muster 5% of the votes cast. In his most recent run, against Burnham in Makerfield, the 5,000-year-old Binface got 95 votes, or 0.2% of the total. There is an expectation that he will do a lot better in Clacton. Many of the voters of the other political parties have been lending him their support, partly in the hope of embarrassing Farage. Given the number of candidates, the result is not expected until breakfast time on Friday. Farage claims ‘overwhelming’ win as count still underway in UK by-election [IsraelTimes] Britain’s hard-right leader Nigel Farage declares victory in a by-election in Clacton as the vote count is still underway. “The verdict is in and it is a convincing and overwhelming win… we have secured far more votes than we got in the general election of 2024,” he says at an event in Essex, which is broadcast on X. Related: Nigel Farage 07/21/2026 'A Set of Beautiful Phrases.' What to Expect from the New British Prime Minister Nigel Farage 07/19/2026 Farage to stand against ‘record’ 33 candidates in UK by-election, including Count Binface Nigel Farage 07/15/2026 Ann Widdecombe suspect had communist literature at home: Terror cops believe 'attack' WAS political |
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