{"id":737621,"date":"2026-08-14T09:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737621\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:38:17","slug":"uk-nigel-farage-beats-a-trash-can-in-clacton-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/737621\/","title":{"rendered":"UK: Nigel Farage beats a trash can in Clacton by-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage won Friday’s by-election in Clacton, regaining the parliamentary seat he resigned a month earlier<\/a> to trigger the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He took about 63% of the vote, while his main challenger, comedian Jon\u00a0Harvey running as trash-can-costumed “Count Binface,” secured roughly 27% \u2014 his best result yet in eight election attempts. The turnout was 44%.<\/p>\n

What triggered the Clacton by-election?<\/p>\n

Reform UK’s Farage called the special election to prove his voter support amid a parliamentary investigation into an undeclared \u00a35 million ($6.75 million, \u20ac5.85 million) gift from Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Britain’s major parties boycotted the race, calling it a self-serving stunt. This left Farage facing 33 mostly independent and novelty candidates.<\/p>\n

Farage skipped the official vote count, saying police warned him of an “organized campaign to disrupt” the result. Essex police disputed reports of a credible threat but said a “proportionate and robust” security operation was in place. He also canceled a planned victory speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GreatCount Binface’s policies included capping the price of ice cream cones and conscripting anyone using their phone on speaker mode while on public transportImage: Joe Giddens\/PA Wire\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n

“I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory… and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies,” he told supporters.<\/p>\n

What happens next?<\/p>\n

The win doesn’t resolve Farage’s political troubles<\/a>. The parliamentary standards investigation, paused when he resigned, is expected to resume and could still force him from his seat. Farage says the money was a personal gift he wasn’t required to declare.<\/p>\n

Last month, \u200ba Survation poll put Farage’s share of the vote at 73%, a figure he fell short of. It comes as Reform UK’s national polling is also slipping behind a resurgent Labour Party under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who is Count Binface?<\/p>\n

Count Binface is the alter ego of Harvey, a British comedian, writer and producer who uses the character to satirize UK politics.<\/p>\n

He is a self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” who campaigns wearing a trash bin on his head. While he was expected to receive a large share of the vote, the figure was not expected to exceed 20 percent.<\/p>\n

Binface has become somewhat of a serial candidate, challenging prime ministers past and present in line with a long tradition of novelty candidates in UK politics.<\/p>\n

\"BritainThe satirical political character has challenged numerous UK prime ministers in past campaigns Image: Toby Melville\/REUTERS<\/p>\n

With the other parties boycotting the election, he became Farage’s default rival with a comical platform vowing to “cut your taxes, and raise everyone else’s,” build one\u00a0affordable home and nationalize singer Adele.<\/p>\n

“The moral victory is already mine,” Harvey, aka Binface, told the\u00a0AFP news agency at the counting center ahead of the final count.<\/p>\n

If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google<\/a>, so you’ll always see our verified news first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage won Friday’s by-election in Clacton, regaining the parliamentary seat he resigned a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-737621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}