Next Indian Elections

A man with a bin on his head is on the ballot against Nigel Farage in Clacton tomorrow. It's a real by-election, and there are 34 names on that ballot, which the council reckons is a record for a parliamentary election.

Here's how it happened. Christopher Harborne is a British businessman living in Thailand and a part owner of Tether. Across Reform UK and the Brexit Party before it, he's given Farage's parties somewhere around £25m. In April 2024 he also gave Farage £5m personally, which is a separate thing, and Farage didn't declare it. His position, quoting him: "there is no obligation to declare something that is an unconditional, non-political, personal gift." The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened an investigation in May 2026.

Then in July, Farage resigned the seat. Which is the part I find genuinely funny, because you can't actually resign from Parliament. There's no mechanism. To leave, an MP has to be appointed to an office of profit under the Crown, so on 8 July the Treasury made him Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. That is a real title and it is genuinely how you quit.

The standards investigation paused when he resigned. If he wins tomorrow and goes back, it starts again.

Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the Greens all declined to stand. Labour called it a circus. Kemi Badenoch called it a fake by-election. Count Binface stood anyway, along with 32 other people.

The polling split is the part I actually like. Ipsos asked British adults nationally who they'd rather see win and got Binface on 33% and Farage on 21%. Survation asked people who actually live in Clacton and got Farage on 73%, Binface on 20%. Both are real. They're measuring different things, and only one of them counts tomorrow.

Binface doesn't want to win anyway. Hats are banned inside Parliament.

Votes are counted overnight. Part 2 goes up Friday morning with the number.

SOURCES

Statement of Persons Nominated (the 34 candidates), Tendring District Council, signed by Ian Davidson, Acting Returning Officer, 17 July 2026:
https://legacy.tendringdc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/council/elections%20&%20voting/2026/Aug13/UKPGE%20-%20NOP%20SOP%20SOPN.pdf

Tendring District Council on the candidate count being a record, 17 July 2026:
https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/news/clacton-voters-to-choose-next-mp-as-by-election-candidates-confirmed

HM Treasury, the Northstead appointment, 8 July 2026:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/manor-of-northstead--3

Ipsos, national preference poll, 1,000 British adults aged 18-75, 8-9 July 2026:
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/british-public-more-likely-prefer-count-binface-wins-clacton-election-nigel-farage

Survation, Clacton constituency poll, 502 adults, 16-24 July 2026:
https://www.survation.com/clacton-by-election-poll-what-do-voters-say-the-election-is-about/

Channel 4 News FactCheck on the £5m and the paused investigation, Helen Johnson, 9 July 2026:
https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-the-latest-on-nigel-farages-5m-gift-and-his-resignation-as-clacton-mp

Channel 4 News Investigations on Harborne's donation totals, 27 July 2026:
https://channel4news.substack.com/p/the-gaping-loopholes-used-by-billionaire

Tax Policy Associates on the £5m and its timing, 17 July 2026:
https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/07/17/farage-5m-gift-tax/

Farage's "no obligation" quote, Joshua Nevett, BBC News, 5 May 2026. I could only reach it through syndication; the BBC's own URL didn't resolve:
https://www.aol.com/articles/no-obligation-declare-5m-gift-185151236.html

PoliticsHome on the parties declining to stand, 7 July 2026:
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/labour-tories-refuse-stand-candidates-clacton-byelection

HuffPost UK on the Reeves quote, 8 July 2026:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nigel-farage-clacton-by-election-begins_uk_6a4e49d1e4b0c806bbf09197

Count Binface's 2026 manifesto, all 20 pledges:
https://votecountbinface.com/manifesto

European Parliament records for Farage's MEP terms, 1999-2020:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4525/NIGEL_FARAGE/history/5

Farage denies wrongdoing and the investigation hasn't concluded. Worth saying plainly.

Almost every graphic in this video was drawn from scratch. No party logos and no wire-service images. The two photographs are Creative Commons and credited on screen: Nigel Farage by Derek Bennett (CC BY 2.0) and Count Binface by Jpdfive (CC BY-SA 4.0), both via Wikimedia Commons.

#Clacton #Farage #CountBinface #UKPolitics #ByElection