Self-styled intergalactic space warrior Count Binface finished second in the Clacton by-election on Thursday with 9,455 votes. A record 34 candidates stood in the contest, but Binface and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage were the only contenders to secure more than 500 votes. The other major UK parties boycotted the election, which was triggered by Farage's resignation as an MP in July, having won the seat from the Conservatives in 2024.
Binface has stood in various high-profile elections around the country in recent years. Before Clacton, his best results were more than 24,000 votes in the last two London mayoral elections. With more candidates on the ballot than ever before, why did 26.9% of voters choose a man wearing a bin on his head?
First-time voter Ben Peters, 18, from Holland-on-Sea, said the election had been a "joke" since the start. He said: "It was a bit of a thrill, but at the same time it felt almost pointless because I knew that, no matter what I did, Farage was going to get back into the seat." Stephen Bear jailed over sex offender breaches Has the by-election changed things for Clacton? Anti-asylum protester who shoved police is jailed Binface's policies had included nationalising the singer Adele, moving a pub hand dryer in Uxbridge and enforcing a 99p price tag on ice creams with 99 flakes.
Peters said: "Even if it means voting for Count Binface and getting 99p ice creams for 99 flakes, that is one more step than Nigel Farage has ever done for Clacton." Alex Greenwood, from Thorpe-le-Soken, acknowledged some policies were "a bit silly" but the 18-year-old student argued there was an underlying logic to them. "Nationalising Adele... all of Adele's song proceeds go to a private company which goes to shareholders and her songs are pretty much cultural icons," he said. "It's not actually that far-fetched... why not have all that money go to the government which could be used on the NHS and stuff?" Greenwood suggested his vote was partially a protest against Farage, whom he believes called the by-election to avoid scrutiny from the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
He added: "I do like Binface. I don't like Farage all that much." Before Farage quit his Clacton seat in July, Parliament's standards watchdog had been investigating him for not declaring a £5m gift he received from billionaire Reform UK donor Christopher Harborne before he became an MP. He said the by-election was a "people versus the establishment" showdown, saying the "people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions".
Kerry Mitchell, who lives in Wix, said she had voted for Count Binface because he would have made for a "more credible, honest, responsible, not to say committed, MP than Nigel Farage". The 61-year-old, who voted Labour in 2024, said: "Nigel Farage poses a real threat to democracy in the UK and if Binface had won, it would have put an end to him. "And it also added some much-needed humour and lightness into politics.
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