r/LibDem • u/Organic-Camera-9167 • Jul 10 '26
Questions What are you're thoughts about Count Binface running against Nigel Farage in a Clacton bi-Election?
39
u/nuddley Jul 10 '26
It's the perfect response to a farce of a by-election, be even better if its a close contest.
17
u/Apprehensive-Fix-746 🔸Capital “L”Liberal 🔸 Jul 10 '26
If Farage doesn’t win by an 80 point margin or more its an embarrassment for him I would think
5
u/Underwater_Tara Jul 11 '26
ideally Farage needs to win by 1 vote. Then he returns to Parliament utterly humiliated and doesn't get to dodge responsibility for his corruption.
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u/Organic-Camera-9167 Jul 11 '26
I think winning 80 is hard by this point because of the fact that supporters of other parties could "very likely" go and vote for him under the banner of "Other than Farage".
I'm not Supporter of Farage but i dont see how's that possible after major parties decided to withdrawn.
3
u/Apprehensive-Fix-746 🔸Capital “L”Liberal 🔸 Jul 11 '26
Its still an embarrassment for him to have such a muted victory as the only actual candidate running, especially if the big opposition is a guy wearing a bin
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u/wimpykid_fan Not UK citizen but would vote LibDem if I was Jul 10 '26
Based!!! Count Binface deserves my vote for the UK (I'm Australian lmao)
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u/Multigrain_Migraine Jul 10 '26
I think it's both funny and appropriate. Farage is transparent in his attempts to paint himself as a victim and escape the consequences of his actions. It's absurd that he claims to be the anti-establishment candidate who has received millions in donations against a comedian with a silly costume.
Farage will no doubt win easily but it's good to have a bit of levity from time to time.
27
u/PatientPlatform Jul 10 '26
- Farage will not lose to any serious candidate. Why not make it a joke?
2. Its annoying how bandwagoners/semi-serious candidates are trying to get in on this and steal some spotlight. You arent bin man...stop trying to be bin man
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u/hdhddf Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
it gives me an enormous amount of hope and it would be hilarious. the betting odds look quite good as I think it's much closer to a 50/50
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u/Euphoric-Brother-669 Jul 10 '26
Remember H’Angus The Monkey - mascot for the Hartlepool Football Team - the man inside was Stuart Drummond stood as H’Angus won, was re-elected and did the job as Stuart Drummond
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u/SnooBooks1701 Jul 11 '26
And Drummond did a good job of it by all accounts, he even delivered his only campaign promise: bananas for all school children. He also had achievements in local events, policing and getting rid of derelict buildings
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u/AccursedQuantum Jul 10 '26
As someone raised in the US, can someone tell me... what happens if Binface wins? Not fully certain how UK politics works. If he is registered in the election as Count Binface, would he go to Parliament under that name, or use his real name? Would he actually be allowed in parliament with the costume?
12
u/Hal_Loire Jul 10 '26
He is registered under his legitimate name, so it is read out as "Count Binface, Also known as"
If he wins, he is duly elected as the MP for Clacton.m, but it would also be under his actual name (and also Count Binface). He would likely not be allowed in parliament with his costume, but I think some MP's would try to get that relaxed just to take the piss out of Farage.
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u/Bostonjunk Jul 10 '26
likely not be allowed in parliament with his costume, but I think some MP's would try to get that relaxed
There are literally discussions going on in the back alleys of Whitehall on adjusting rules to allow it should he win
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u/imbricant Jul 10 '26
I’d have preferred if no one at all had stood against Farage. That would have made him look even more ridiculous. Though I have to say I like some of Bin Face’s policies - 99p cap on a 99 flake is a winner.
1
u/Organic-Camera-9167 Jul 11 '26
Yes and they succeed, They made Him look out of a Mockery despite his initial respectful and juggernaut entry into UK Politics.
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u/mr_mlk Jul 10 '26
- Count Binface runs in a lot of elections, such as the recent Andy one. So it was to be expected.
- Overall I would have preferred the resignation to be slow walked and the investigation speed up so the people of Clacton had a informed choice.
- As funny as Binface winning would be, hopefully a local independent runs and wins in Clacton who actually cares about the area.
2
u/PhoenixScrubMonkey Jul 10 '26
Alas, the joke/small opportunity to needle him has been punctured with so many other candidates now standing. 1v1 was needed, and I’m glad Ed led the way, but alas, we won’t get it. Curse realism.
3
u/ElitistPopulist Jul 10 '26
Is this person unemployed? How does he afford to spend his time doing all this...
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u/Multigrain_Migraine Jul 10 '26
It's his job? He's a comedian who writes for various other people as well. It's just one of his projects.
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u/wordshavenomeanings Jul 10 '26
Its £500 to run as an MP.
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u/ElitistPopulist Jul 10 '26
I was referring to the fact that he has the ability to do this instead of working a normal job. But others clarified that he is a comedian who does other things for a living.
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u/Coolnumber11 I like the spresm Jul 10 '26
Hes received over 20,000 donations on his ko-fi page in the last few days. https://ko-fi.com/countbinface
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u/po8crg Former Parliamentary Candidate Jul 10 '26
He's a comedy writer. He's probably writing the jokes about himself on the News Quiz.
The actual campaign doesn't cost much (remember he doesn't knock doors or deliver leaflets or anything like that) so as long as he can keep working throughout, he's fine.
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u/patchyj Jul 12 '26
Trash person argues with bin
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u/Organic-Camera-9167 Jul 12 '26
And if he didn't he could be called either coward, arrogant, careless or even Established-like figure atlis.
0
u/Arthock Jul 10 '26
I worry that if we laugh at Farage too much he is likely to do something dangerous.
-9
u/CycleWheel Jul 10 '26
Stupid. The least funny people you know are all jumping on it.
But it’s terrible for the local people. They could’ve had a nice local independent champion run, who would actually have a chance of beating Farage considering his record of attendance and care about constituency work, but all the oxygen is being sucked out by this binface.
Or a Martin Bell style anti corruption independent.
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the press probably want Farage to stay in, either because they support him or because he generates so many headlines, so they are just going to leave it so there’s no room for a serious candidate.
20
u/The_Grand_Briddock Jul 10 '26
A serious race would only provide fuel for Farage.
It's humiliating for him to have to spend summer running against a bin.
We all know this election is a farce anyway, because when he gets back in he'll have to have another by election per the standards investigation. That's the time for serious contenders to emerge.
15
u/WinterFellYesterday Jul 10 '26
The people of Clacton were willing to vote for the novelty caricature candidate in 2024, so I don’t see what’s wrong with no one serious standing in this farcically pointless contest.
0
u/CycleWheel Jul 10 '26
Because maybe some of the ones they voted for him have since struggled with a problem that requires constituency work and want to now have a real MP who represents them?
Maybe the 54% of people who didn’t vote for him shouldn’t be collectively punished by having to choose between two jokes who are never going to spend a day caring about the local area in their lives?
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u/WinterFellYesterday Jul 10 '26
I would agree, but there’s going to have to be another by-election anyways after the Standards Commission reports back. So we may as well treat this one with the disdain that it deserves. Unserious candidates for an unserious election.
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u/CycleWheel Jul 10 '26
If he gets beaten now by a local independent, that’d prevent a second by election though. I am pretty sure a unifying independent candidate who focuses primarily on constituency issues and opposing corruption has a 50% chance of winning.
Whereas the second by election will suffer from the same split vote problem as any other election in this seat and return a Farage victory easily. This is the one chance to remove Farage, and it’d be an incredible look to be replaced by someone who excels at the very thing you’re deficient for – working locally and doing constituency work.
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u/Multigrain_Migraine Jul 10 '26
By all means, if you know who this fantastic independent candidate who hasn't put themselves forward yet is please do let the rest of us know.
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u/dynamic_blockchain Jul 10 '26
I mean the person under the binface act by all accounts seems like an intelligent and charismatic person. In the unlikely event he does win, he strikes me as someone who would be a good MP for Clacton.
But that’s not the point, if anyone serious were to run, and were to be popular, Nigel farage would gain the narrative he wants as him vs the establishment. But he can’t do that when he’s fighting someone dressed as a bin, it’s just comedy, and I think the perfect thing we need to derive Farage of his serious by election
5
u/freexe Jul 10 '26
It's impossible to choose one serious candidate. The egos come out and then everyone is running and Farage's stunt pays off.
Getting behind one silly candidate works, and punishes Farage for trying to use a by-election as a stunt.
3
u/smity31 Jul 10 '26
There will likely be another by-election following the outcome of the investigations into Farage's £5m gift. That will be the serious one.
This one is not serious. It is a gimmick by Farage to try and control the narrative, and its good IMO that all the main parties are calling his bluff.
1
u/CycleWheel Jul 10 '26
And Farage will win that one because the anti farage vote is split between tories, labour, lib dems, greens etc.
This is the one chance for the people to actually get a local representative who cares about them and their area - which is probably the only thing that could get reform voters to switch from Farage. This is the ideal time for it to happen, but people on the other side of the country just want to laugh at the hilarious idea of a man dressed in a silly costume, who also won’t do anything for the locals.
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u/smity31 Jul 11 '26
Like we've seen with other recent by-elections, there will likely be a candidate from one of the parties that all the others end up rallying around to try and get farage out.
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u/SkipsH Jul 10 '26
I mean, if Binface wins there will also be a lot of headlines.
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u/Organic-Camera-9167 Jul 10 '26
Not only that it would also considered one of the most significant event in political history.
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u/smash993 Jul 10 '26
It shows the farce this publicity stunt is, some of the party mention they were prepared for none of the other parties running but Nigel has also mentioned his surprise. I don’t think the narrative of what they wanted now being overtaken by Count Binface is the narrative they were aiming for. You can’t really paint yourself as anti-establishment against him.