Footage from Clacton shows Farage out canvassing on a residential street when voices nearby start shouting support for his most recognisable opponent. “Binface! Binface!” carries over as Farage and his team move between houses. Then “vote Binface,” followed by the now near-inevitable “bin for the win.”
Farage keeps canvassing and doesn’t engage with it. Not scientific evidence of what the whole constituency thinks of him, but another awkward clip from a byelection he created entirely himself.
Farage brought this on himself
Clacton wouldn’t normally be voting again until the next general election. Farage resigned as its MP amid scrutiny of his finances and the parliamentary standards investigation into the £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, then announced he’d stand again in the resulting byelection, arguing Clacton voters should get to judge him directly. Polling day is 13 August.
The Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and Greens all decided against fielding candidates, calling it an unnecessary contest. That’s left Farage in a field of 34, with Count Binface as by far the most prominent challenger. That doesn’t mean Binface is about to win, Guardian-reported polling puts Farage on 73% and Binface on 20%, making Farage the overwhelming favourite. The campaign’s still produced a string of moments Farage could probably have lived without.
Binface has become genuinely hard to ignore
What started as another comedy candidacy has picked up national and international attention. Binface’s released a full Clacton manifesto, sat down with Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell, spoken to Australian television, and put out a musical election broadcast packed with digs at Farage. His pledges include spending more time in Clacton than Washington DC, refusing £5m gifts from crypto billionaires, and requiring MPs who resign mid-Parliament to sit out the byelection they’ve caused, alongside the usual Binface fare on 99p Flakes, Eurovision and badly positioned hand dryers.
Farage, meanwhile, has been putting real effort into doorstep campaigning, recently asking Reform supporters to come to Clacton and “help him for once,” saying the campaign needs an “army” on polling day. That level of visibility stands out given how much criticism he faced over his previous absence from the constituency as its actual MP.
The maths still heavily favours Farage
Worth separating the jokes from the numbers here. Farage won Clacton in 2024 with 21,225 votes, 46.2%, an 8,405 majority. No candidates from the main parties gives him an unusually clear path back. There’s also been polling showing far less enthusiasm for him outside Clacton specifically, an Ipsos survey asking Britons nationally who they’d prefer to win found 33% picking Binface against 21% for Farage. Amusing result, but that’s not a Clacton voting-intention poll and shouldn’t be treated as one. The actual constituency numbers point to a comfortable Farage win.
Which makes the whole spectacle around this campaign genuinely unusual. Losing to Binface would be an extraordinary upset. A big win would be considerably less surprising given Farage’s old majority, the absent main parties, and the strange circumstances behind the whole contest.
‘Win or lose…’
The chanting clip went down well with Farage’s critics regardless. @TharriesYT: “Win or lose I’m not sure his political career will recover from this level of humiliation.” @Lei_Neverland made the obvious point: “Whatever way you look at it, Nigel is standing against a man with a bin on his head, he will never live a loss down and a win ain’t exactly a victory either.” @GreenSandisSun kept it short: “Yeah his political career is over.”
That last one might be a stretch. Farage remains Reform’s leader and the clear favourite to return to Parliament next week. Still, when you resign your own seat so voters can deliver a personal verdict, campaign for weeks to win it straight back, then find residents shouting for a man wearing a silver bin while you’re knocking on their doors, people are going to enjoy the footage.
Clacton gets the final say on 13 August.