Viewers of Last Week Tonight might be familiar with Count Binface; a joke / satirical candidate who stands in various elections around the UK, usually getting only a handful of votes.
However, there has been a funny turn of events.
The UK version of Trump, Nigel Farage, in a bid to avoid accountability for his various grifting scandals, has engaged in the political stunt of resigning his MP position to…participate in an election for the new MP. It’s complicated, but in the likely event that he re-wins that election he would of course claim “the people have spoken”, and any further investigations are “the establishment” trying to subvert the will of the people.
Anyway. The other political parties have done the (surprisingly smart) thing of boycotting this election. Leaving Farage’s only rival for the spot a certain Count Binface. Aside from this being humiliating on its face, beneath the costume the guy playing Binface is actually very sharp. So for several reasons Farage needs to dodge a debate with Binface as well as the press still asking him about the various allegations.
It’s pretty sad because Clacton includes the poorest neighbourhood in all of England.
So you have these poor, working class (if they can find a job) people, drinking the kool-aid about how all their problems are caused by asylum seekers. So they vote for a guy who was born into wealth, was privately-educated, and now receives gifts of millions of pounds a time to lobby for crypto – while barely bothering to show up in parliament, let alone to the district he’s supposed to represent.
So there’s no schadenfreude in laughing at the clown below (the one on the right). Only mitfreude (guilty-free joy).
ETA: Image of binface is stuck in “Can’t upload media” hell
Probably not, Farage (like Trump) is popular amongst politically-unengaged voters, and our party system is fractured across multiple parties right now, so it isn’t clear who might appeal to the voters. It’s certainly not worth the risk of gifting Farage a new narrative. Instead, he’s being made to look very foolish from his own actions.
He’s called this byelection because there’s an investigation into his financial affairs- money donated from suspect places. Investigations into MPs are put on hold while they’re standing for election, so it pauses the investigation. If a ‘serious’ candidate stands and he wins against them, he can point at the election and use it as evidence that the people trust him anyway, and he can claim the investigation is just evidence that the establishment is out to get him.
If he only wins against a man with a bin on his head, then his claim to have won as the ‘antiestablishment candidate’ is obviously nonsense, so he gets back to parliament, the investigation carries on and everyone ignores his little tantrum.
And if he loses, it’s very, very funny.
(very rough summary)
Thanks @Filbert , saved me having to say that (and written better than I would write).
Some of the media is getting this slightly wrong IMO, and saying this will be a win for Farage if he increases his vote share.
I don’t believe that at all.
If he wins, say 70% and binface gets 25%, then he’ll have spent weeks being a laughing stock to lose thousands of people to a bin.
The absolute best case scenario here is Farage hides for several weeks and then wins 100% of the vote… that would leave him in the same position as he started in. Anything else leaves him weakened.
If Farage wins, there’ll be an investigation into his finances. When the investigation inevitably concludes that he’s a shameless crook, there’ll be another by-election. That’s the one the series candidates will enter. Then they won’t be running against Nigel Farage, probable crook. They’ll be running against Nigel Farage, actual crook, and victory will be all the easier.
Personally, I’m betting on Binface. His manifesto pledges (build at least one affordable house, nationalise Adele, Wifi on trains that works (also, trains that work)) are just the breath of fresh air British politics has been waiting for.
99p for a 99 would get my vote. (a 99 is an ice cream cornet with a chocolate flake in it. They cost anything up to a fiver these days.)
Reform have made the mistake of taking Binface seriously, which just makes them look humourless and scared of a man with a bin on his head. They are now trying to dig up dirt on him. Like the fact that he’s actually a stand up comedian and studied Classics at Oxford. Boris Johnson was also a clown who studied classics and he made it all the way to PM. And Ukraine has shown what a comedian in politics can achieve.
Farage has previously lost an election and been beaten by a man dressed as a dolphin. So there’s precedent.
The thing about the pub hand dryer also shows that he’s willing to address small, local issues. I’ll bet you that if he’s elected, he has great constituent services.
Come to think of it… It might be a good move for him to poll some locals, and find out what the minor annoyance is at the local pubs. And then, in his persona as Lord Binface, talk to the pub owner and arrange to get it fixed.
I think Count is ok, something like Lord or Sir would have been a bigger problem. There’s also already talk of whether he’d need to remove the bin to take his seat in the house.
100%
In fact there were reports that Farage was trying to find a job in America and possibly got snubbed and hence why we’re stuck with him.
The fact is, Farage isn’t extreme enough for the US conservative circuit.
Rupert Lowe (who is to the right of Farage but so far nowhere near the popularity or success) managed to get a spot on the Joe Rogan Experience, spouting complete lies about “Sharia law” and the like. That’s where Farage would like to be.
But right now Farage is being (very slightly) hemmed in by a need to try to look like a prime minister in waiting. If this by-election blows up in his face (as seems likely right now), he’ll quit, move more far right and go peddle crap in America.
You’re welcome.
I actually saw somewhere that there’s precedent (a recent one, even) for a count in the Commons. It wasn’t a British title, of course (British counts are called “earls”, instead), but there’s nobility all over that continent.