Count Binface has a genuine chance against Nigel Farage!

[Justveryveryangry]

Sounds crazy but…

None of the major parties are competing…

Farage won Clacton with 46% of the vote…

If the 54% united together to vote for Binface, we could have the most preposterous election outcome of all time!

I reckon this could get some genuine momentum… all the other parties would LOVE this result, and even if they didn’t actively campaign for it, would surely quietly be gunning for Binface to win.

I am not defending Farage but I do think you have got to understand public school culture which is very conformist. Anything that makes you appear different will be a source of comment, and if you are perceived to be sensitive, then it’s weaponized for amusement. They can be brutal places.

The Netherlands has its own far right. The ascension of Geert Wilders has emboldened the racists, there's no doubt about that. In many ways the 80s were a better time.

That swimming pool is in big trouble, however. And rightly so.

Private schools and a class system definitely don't help. I think being under Nazi occupation focused minds after WW2 and we were then bombed to bits by the Allies as well. Our Marshall Plan aid was genuinely spent on rebuilding and upgrading, and the class system mostly died. Our Royal Family send their kids to state schools. Leafy ones, and they have security, but still.

It's not a utopia, but there's less classism, less inequality and more democracy.

Which royal children go to state schools? I don't think you're right there, certainly not as a generalisation.

I think @pointythings is talking about the Dutch royal family.

All the runners so far

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlw69p6lyeo

Here is the full list of those we know about - in alphabetical order.
Adham Alkhatip - Forward Party
An engineering student at London University who previously worked as a housekeeping assistant at a hospital in Birmingham. Announcing his candidature on TikTok, external, Alkhatip said he would be standing on an "anti-corruption, pro-worker platform".

Count Binface - Independent
Real name Jon Harvey, Count Binface is a comedian and author who often participates in elections and by-elections always in a silver dustbin costume. He says he hopes to appeal to disillusioned voters. His policies include abolishing the House of Lords, banning the eating of noisy snacks in cinemas and scrapping VAR in football.

Piers Corbyn - Independent
Brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, he announced his decision to stand on his website, external and said he would be campaigning to stop British involvement in wars abroad, end compulsory vaccinations, halt net zero targets and scrap digital ID.

Nigel Farage - Reform UK
Nigel Farage was elected MP for Clacton in 2024 but resigned in order to force this by-election. He says he is asking for the public's support following allegations he did not properly declare donations from two businessmen. A Parliamentary Standards Commissioner investigation into one of the donations has been suspended while the by-election takes place. He says he has done nothing wrong.

Laurence Fox - Reclaim
The actor and political activist set up the Reclaim Party in 2020. Its website says it stands for patriotism, protecting Britain's borders and supporting working class communities. He lives near West Mersea in Essex and said on social media, external that "Clacton is my back yard" and "someone is going to have to provide a voice on the right".

Ollie Granger - Independent
The broadcasting and media professional from Colchester says he has no party machine and no political background. In a Facebook post, external he said that he would fight for more policing in the town, more investment in jobs and champion farming and tourism.

Rob Pownall - Independent
A wildlife campaigner and founder of Protect the Wild, who often dresses in a fox costume. He told the Metro newspaper, external that he would use the by-election to "give British wildlife a voice" and campaign against trail-hunting.

Amelia Randall - Balanced Britain Party
A clairvoyant and an Independent on Kent County Council, Randall was elected as a Reform UK councillor in Thanet before leaving the party last year for reasons that are not clear. When she founded her Balanced Britain Party she said that she had learned that politics "is like a school playground", external and she wants to represent people who don't vote or want to be associated with politics.

Kai Stephens - British Democrats
Stephens, who is 21 and from Norwich, says in a post on X, external that the far right party is the only one that is serious, patriotic and "most importantly NATIONALIST". The party was founded in 2011 by former members of the BNP.

Luke Worley - Independent
A resident of Clacton, Worley made news after appearing briefly in the TV show Married at First Sight UK before being removed after an altercation with another contestant. In a post on Instagram, external he says he wants to improve roads in the town and make life more affordable for local families.

@Darker Looks like Farage<>BinFace is still the main battle then?
The rest of those fringe arseholes are only after publicity.

Princess Amalia went to the Bloemcamp primary school (state) then to the Gymnasium Sorghvliet (also state, my mum taught there as a substitute teacher in the 80s). There aren't a lot of private schools in the Netherlands, though the number is slowly growing.

You may not have realised that I was talking about the Dutch Royals.

A Clacton FB group has just popped up on my feed. It's public so I've been able to see the comments.

There is a surprising amount of anti-Farage stuff there and amusingily, the pro Farage gang are actually attacking Binface. Not just saying it's stupid to vote for a comedy candiate but actually trying to discredit the man and his policies.

Trying to discredit the Count’s policies? Oh my….

Well, renaming London Bridge is clearly the work of a subversive foreign power.

I’m not clear why it would be Phoebe Waller-Bridge rather than Putin Bridge or Kim Jung Un Bridge. But it’s fishy all the same.

Blimey. They would be better off ignoring Binface. Treating him as a serious contender is a mistake

Bit desperate really.

I think it should be renamed Bridgerton.

I think it should be renamed Bridgerton

London definitely has enough bridges to justify bringing renamed Bridgerton.

Its hard to believe that of all the people that could have stood as a local independent, it's a wanker who got kicked off MAFS for fighting with another groom.

Yes @Toohotforwork, and not only him but also a bloke who dresses as a fox, a ‘clairvoyant’ and Laurence bloody Fox among other loons and losers. I hate this ‘celebritisation’ of anything and everything these days. It’s like the lines have been blurred between politics, entertainment and internet memes and given us an election line-up that feels like a cheese dream. My parents would turn in their graves if they could see the state of British politics now, and they’ve only been dead 13 years but it feels like that’s how quickly everything has become a farce.

I get why any decent local campaigner or community figure might not want to get involved tbh. Especially as there's potentially going to be another high profile by-election at some point.

Is it not ironic that Farage has played a major part in how things are? In a way he deserves this circus culture, because he created a lot of it

Surely that's where the name Bridgerton comes from in the books?

Only if you live west of Tower Bridge! East London is a bridge desert!

I suppose it plays into his maverick personna somehow? On the side of the little man and all that?

A joke contender? Rather like Farage.

In what way a mistake?

So basically it's a line-up of loons. It actually makes a mockery of decent people in Clacton as it's a farce election. Mind you, they did vote Garage in so, overall, they've brought this on themselves.

I think quite a lot of people will vote Binface just because they can - for a laugh. I think it could be quite close between Binface and Farage.

Either way, Farage is going to look stupid on results day because he'll be lined up there with a bin, a fox, a clairvoyant and a load of wannabes and borderline personality cases nobody has ever heard of. Serves him right.