So, my postal vote arrived for the Clacton by-election...

[Username19893847477374]

It will take a moment to be visible I imagine, but there are over 30 candidates standing. Many not seriously, as we know. What a farce.

The helpfully distracting sideshow that Farage has created.

Long as you don’t vote Farage you cannot vote incorrectly. I would do count Binface personally.

Me too, Larry!

Keep Nigel. We need him as a counterpoint to Zach.

Is Count Binface eligible for the House of Commons? 😉

Does he need to renounce his title? 😂

We really don’t.

I'd vote Count Binface any day.

Your response doesn't understand a first past the post voting system.

A lot of lost deposits….

Yes, it's annoying that there are so many. I suppose many are doing it to try and save Farage from the humiliation he faces of his own making.

Wow! I work as a presiding officer in a polling station, that will be an absolute nightmare to get people to fold and into the ballot box!

He's an absolute shyster and you're encouraging people to vote for him? In an election that was completely unnecessary, which he called purely to distract from the investigations into his dodgy finacial dealings?

Count Binface currently 7/1 at William Hill (other bookies are available).

Handy for Count Binface that he is near the top of that ridiculously long list!

I want Count Binface to win so much that it hurts.

Wrong. If you fear Polanski you should be celebrating the downfall of Reform. The way the polls are looking Reform have zero chance of a majority. The best they could hope for is to reduce Labour's majority. And guess who Labour would work with in a progressive coalition should the need arise..? 🤔

Sending strength to the ballot counters and electoral staff. Counting that monstrosity won’t be easy.

Yeah, I think you're failing to see how the electoral system works. The only way to get Farage out is for all the non-Farage voters to vote for the SAME candidate. If the anti-Farage vote is split, then Farage will win even if he only gets a tiny proportion of the vote.

I'm guessing a good few of the non-serious candidates are Farage supporters who want to deliberately split the non-Farage vote. If it was just Farage and Binface, there'd be a real possibility that Binface would win, but that's not going to happen if people take the 'just vote for anyone who isn't Farage' route.

He'll get back in, I'm sure. The important thing is that he gets back in on a reduced majority. That's humiliating for him. If it's significantly reduced, the likes of Jenrick will start thinking Farage is becoming a liability and needs to go. Then we'll get the cats in a sack show as they all fight to take over and it implodes.

Binface seems to be taking it seriously now. He’s actually made a pledge to visit Clacton more than Washington DC, and to hold actual constituency surgeries. I’d back him in this contest, tbf.

Bin face :)

Could you elaborate why people fearing the nutcase Polanski need to celebrate Reform's downfall please? A genuine question as the post still doesn't paint the picture IMO.
p.s I'm not pro Reform but I'd be much more scared to have the lunatic Polanski as the PM.

Agree it is a farce and requiring 50 people to nominate with no one signing for more than one person would probably achieve that.

Please vote for Count Binface.

I know what you mean. I understand that it is very, very, unlikely, but I can’t help hoping it anyway. Obviously it would be funny and Farage deserves to be humiliated for the way he has behaved, but I actually think Count Binface would make a pretty good independent MP. He’s plainly a clever man and I suspect he’s a decent guy too. He’d certainly be better for the constituents than Farage and I think he would try very hard to do the right thing by them.

Every so often I remember this is happening and get a physical sensation in my stomach at the idea of CB winning that is somewhere between joy and pain!

The presence of Reform in the political arena has changed our historical two horse race to a three horse race, Labour, Reform and Conservative.
While this continues, it will be harder for any of the three to gain enough seats to form a majority government. This means the most likely outcome of a GE will be a hung parliament.
If this should happen at the next GE, Burnham would get first chance to try to form a government as he is the incumbent PM.
He would then look to other parties for a coalition. Its highly likely this would include the Greens, giving them increased influence in government.