The strange and surprisingly moving story behind Count Binface, the man taking on Farage

KWhen Clacton residents come to vote in the new by-election to be announced later this summer, it looks like they will have to choose between two main candidates: a man with a habit of talking nonsense (to some) and… a sensitive trash can.

This week Reform England leader Nigel Farage announced plans to resign as MP for Clacton and run for the seat again following a scandal over undeclared gifts, including £5 million from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne, which is being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner.

He argued that he had done nothing wrong and that the investigation was a “political tool” and that his intention was to be judged by his voters, not the “establishment”. But his opponents see the move as merely a way to divert focus from the investigation, which will be put on hold during Farage’s latest notable achievement, his campaign.

In a rare show of unity, the major parties refused to put forward candidates to contest Clacton. Labor and the Conservative Party disparaged Farage’s decision; Kemi Badenoch described the by-election as a “sham” and Keir Starmer called it a “desperate political stunt”.

So Farage’s only rival appears to be Count Binface, comedian Jon Harvey’s intergalactic wastebasket-wearing alter ego; He has become an odd fixture in British politics over the last decade, sneaking into the fray of almost every major election.

Considering that Binface describes himself as an alien from the planet Sigma IX, it is perhaps not quite accurate to refer to the upcoming byelection as a two-man race. His “policies” are similarly intermittent, with offers to bring back Ceefax, nationalize Adele, and conscript anyone who plays music loudly without headphones on public transport (obviously, the latter might provide the platform to carry him to victory).

He was already in the spotlight when he ran against Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election in June (earlier this week Burnham posted a photo of himself shaking hands with his rival with the caption “always worth knowing”, in an apparent mockery of Farage).

Binface has also previously contested elections (unsuccessfully) against former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, creating a bizarre election night spectacle that left the international media asking: “Is Britain… okay?” But Clacton may be his biggest stage yet. Binface recently said: “In the unlikely event that the people of Clacton choose me over the old Nige, I will do my best to represent them.” Guard.

But if he somehow gets into parliament with a tongue-in-cheek “Boaty McBoatface” style protest vote, he’ll have to take off his striking silver helmet; MPs cannot wear headgear when addressing the House of Commons. There is also an ancient restriction dating back to 1313 that forbids them from wearing armor in the chamber, which also eliminates its intergalactic ties.

Comedy candidates have long been a mainstay of British politics; Just look back and remember Screaming Lord Sutch and his still-active Monster Raving Mad Party. So who is the man behind the trash can?

Harvey studied Classics at Oxford before starting his writing career, which saw him work on TV shows such as: Do I Have News For You?, Revolution Will Be Broadcast on Television and Armando Iannucci ThicknessThis certainly allowed him to develop his appreciation for the topsy-turvy weirdness of Westminster.

As Harvey has previously explained, his interest in comedy and politics was nurtured by his older brother Dan during an often tumultuous childhood. Times Their father was an alcoholic and wrote: “We experienced this as a secret shame and it burned us”; the brothers got through it “by wrapping”[ping] “we feel ourselves in a comforting blanket of shared passions”, we laugh at the old episodes karayabancı.

Dan died unexpectedly in 2015 at the age of 43 and was posthumously diagnosed with diabetes. Harvey has since admitted to struggling with the guilt that plagues sudden mourners. “In bad moments, my heart beats with failure. The thought that I could have done something else,” he said Times. “I should have tried harder.”

He thinks his odd side hustle as a joke candidate came about as an “admittedly eccentric” way to keep Dan’s spirit alive and “help his joy continue to spread.” His first foray into politics was under the guise of Lord Buckethead, a creation inspired by a character in a science fiction parody. gremloidsA 1984 film aimed at committing fraud Star Wars; Buckethead was a low budget version of Darth Vader.

Wearing a tall black bucket on his head, Harvey ran against then Prime Minister Theresa May in the Maidenhead constituency in the 2017 general election; He received 249 votes on the promise of “strong, not entirely stable leadership”.

However, when Buckethead’s political travails were reported in the media, Harvey entered into a copyright dispute with the book’s author. gremloidsand so he decided to take on a new cosmic persona, earning himself a slight title boost in the process. Count Binface was born.

He opposed Johnson (in 2019) and Sunak (in 2024) and stood twice in London mayoral elections; His biggest success came in 2021, when he won more votes than Nick Scanlon, the candidate of far-right group Britain First. Their campaign is crowdfunded online, with the surplus going to homeless charity Shelter.

When he’s not dressing like a bin, Harvey lives in Sussex with his wife Sarah, an actor and voice artist, and their two children; A new feature for TimesShe told how Sarah had been camping out in the living room since her youngest was born to allow her to sleep peacefully with the baby.

It seems even the space aristocracy is suffering from the cost of living crisis. “My wife and I are both self-employed, so our incomes can vary widely and I am the main breadwinner, which brings its own pressures, especially now that I am a father of two,” he wrote in the same newspaper earlier this week.

After putting so much effort into turning political discourse into theatre, Farage now looks like he’s about to take to the stage with a buffoon, especially one who might appeal to those who think politics is bullshit.

Earlier this week, Kemi Badenoch said: “If it’s about the people and the order, I think Nigel Farage could be the order and Count Binface could be the people.” Whatever your views on Badenoch, he may have a point this time.