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One in three British adults (33 per cent) would rather see Count Binface winning the Clacton by-election, a new poll has shown.

Only 21 per cent told YouGov that they would like to see Nigel Farage re-elected as MP, while nearly three in four (74 per cent) said that the parliamentary standards commissioner should be investigating the Reform UK leader.

Mr Farage is under increasing pressure as scrutiny grows over his financial affairs, with it emerging that the Metropolitan Police has been investigating £500,000 of donations to his political party for more than a year.

The Clacton MP resigned and called a by-election in which he will run, but his main opponent is likely to be parody candidate Count Binface, after mainstream parties refused to participate.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice has insisted a donor at the heart of a row over the party’s finances comes from a “very successful aristocratic family” and the ongoing row is a “politically motivated smear”.

According to The Times, convicted fraudster George Cottrell’s mother, Fiona, made two £250,000 payments to Reform before the last general election in 2024, and also gave £1 million to Britain Means Business, which Mr Tice is a director of.

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Who has backed Count Binface in Clacton by-election?

Given a head-to-head choice between the two candidates, 33 per cent of British adults said they would prefer Count Binface to win, while only 21 per cent would back the Reform UK leader, polling from Ipsos found.

Within 24 hours of Mr Farage’s resignation, more than 5,000 people donated to Count Binface’s emergency campaign fund, raising more than £15,000 to cover his deposit and leafleting costs.

As the self-described “intergalactic space warrior” currently stands as the most prominent alternative to Mr Farage, Count Binface has drawn support from across the political spectrum.

Find out who is backing Count Binface in his race against Mr Farage:

Harriette Boucher11 July 2026 09:25

Harriette Boucher11 July 2026 09:20

Farage fears life for politicians has become more dangerous

Nigel Farage has said the murder probe into ex-Tory minister Ann Widdecombe’s death shows that life for politicians has become more dangerous.

The Reform leader said yesterday that he was “deeply, deeply upset” by the nature of her death.

“Our nation is a much, much poorer place without her. Reform UK is certainly a much worse place without her. I was expecting to see her in Clacton over the course of the next few days. Sadly, that is not going to happen.

“Rest in peace, Ann. A remarkable, principled woman, and a truly dreadful way to die, and a terrible reflection on modern Britain.

“And I do fear that for anybody in public life, or especially the political space, things have become even more dangerous to them.”

Police have said they do not believe the motive behind her death was politically motivated.

Harriette Boucher11 July 2026 09:12

Cap private political donations to restore trust in British democracy, think tank says

A cap on private political donations would rebuild trust in British politics, a new report has argued.

Published by think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the major report makes the case for a “radical overhaul” of the UK’s democracy through a new model of “democratic citizenship”, in response to a crisis of pride in the country and growing disillusion with the current political system.

It has proposed several reforms that it believes will rebuild trust in the UK’s political institutions and boost national unity.

Read the full article here:

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 07:00

Nigel Farage named sleaziest politician in UK in new poll – and even Reform voters think it

According to a new YouGov poll, 73 per cent of Britons think the Reform UK leader is sleazy, while 69 per cent of people say the same of his party.

Some 56 per cent categorised Mr Farage as “very sleazy”, with an additional 17 per cent finding him “fairly sleazy”, while 40 per cent of those who voted Reform at the last election today consider him to be sleazy.

The polling highlights a clear gap between the public’s perception of Mr Farage and the other party leaders, with 51 per cent of Britons seeing Sir Keir Starmer as at least fairly sleazy, while 42 per cent said the same of Green leader Zack Polanski.

Read the full article here:

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 06:00

The UK voted Leave – but nobody voted for this mess

So here we stand, outside the EU in a place no one voted for. It’s time for a reality check. Ten years ago, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU by a slender majority. That vote, however, was meaningless. Nobody knew what outside the EU would come to mean, and without such knowledge, there was never a legitimate choice.

Some drew the inference that the result was a vote to go anywhere outside the EU, but this ignored the distinct possibility that, on seeing what Brexit looked like, the nation might prefer to remain inside.

Keir Starmer saw the point. As shadow Brexit secretary, he argued that the public should have a “final say” on the terms of the deal once it had been negotiated. Yet, the truth is, we never even had a first say.

Read the full opinion piece here:

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 05:00

Burnham’s Labour will ‘wear our hearts on our sleeve more’, says ally in swipe at Keir Starmer

Andy Burnham’s Labour will “wear our hearts on our sleeve more”, the PM-in-waiting’s ally Lisa Nandy has said, in an apparent swipe at Sir Keir Starmer who has been criticised for failing to connect with voters.

Ms Nandy, the culture secretary, said a Burnham government would also be “faster and bolder” because he is “willing to think very differently about how we deliver… change”.

“I think people will see us taking the fight to any system that stands in the way of them living better lives,” she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 04:00

Starmer declines to rule out resignation honours despite previous opposition

Sir Keir Starmer has left the door open to putting forward a resignation honours list despite previously ruling out such a move.

With his time as Prime Minister almost at an end, Sir Keir refused to rule out issuing resignation honours, telling reporters: “We’ll look at it in the usual course of things.”

His statement was a marked difference from his position on the issue while leader of the opposition in 2023 amid a controversy over Boris Johnson’s own resignation honours list.

At the time, Sir Keir criticised Rishi Sunak’s decision to approve Mr Johnson’s honours list before MPs had ruled on whether he had lied to Parliament over the Partygate scandal.

Criticising Mr Sunak’s approval of the list, Sir Keir ruled out putting forward a similar list of his own if he ended up quitting after a stint in No10.

He told the BBC it was “very hard to justify” resignation honours, adding: “There are other avenues for that and I think it is easier to be clean about this and say no, I wouldn’t do it.

“Tony Blair didn’t do it and I wouldn’t do it.”

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 03:00

Burnham facing backlash from UK Jewish leaders over Gaza comments

Andy Burnham has been hit by backlash from Jewish leaders who say they have “significant concerns” over his indication he will oversee a tougher policy on Israel in support of Gaza.

The prime-minister-in-waiting issued a video on social media on Thursday in which he apologised for Labour’s previous response to the violence in Gaza, and admitted that the government had been too slow in calling for a ceasefire.

In the video, he said: “I know many people feel that at the start of Israel’s military action in Gaza, my party didn’t get it right – and I am sorry about that. The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better.”

While the statement has welcomed by many in the Labour party, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council expressed concern over the comments on Friday.

“We have been in touch with Andy Burnham’s team to convey directly our significant concerns in relation to his remarks yesterday,” the groups said in a statement.

Read the full article here:

Joe Middleton11 July 2026 01:00

Watch: Tech giants spend more on AI in six weeks than UK defence does in a year, Nick Clegg claimsTech giants spend more on AI in six weeks than UK defence does in a year, Nick Clegg claims

Joe Middleton10 July 2026 23:59