Nigel Farage has shaken up the Clacton election candidates race by resigning as the MP in Clacton and standing again for the seat. Count Binface said he would join the byelection as a unity candidate, adding to a contest already drawing 34 candidates.
Farage said, "This will be a people versus the establishment byelection" after his move. Count Binface answered in a statement: "I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house."
Clacton and 34 candidates
The scale is unusually large. The candidate list now runs to 34, and Count Binface has become part of that field after other main parties said they would not stand. He also said, "Nigel Farage says he wants ‘the people versus the establishment’. So be it. Leave him to me."
Count Binface’s entry sits beside a broader protest-style challenge. The Monster Raving Loony party intended to stand an array of oddly named candidates, and its leader, Howling Laud Hope, explained the approach in three words: "Because we can".
Nick Delves and Count Binface
Nick Delves, 60, who is activist and treasurer for the Monster Raving Loony party, said Count Binface runs "a very tight operation". He also said, "He is very much a one-man band and he goes a bit funny if you use his real name".
Delves said he approached Count Binface with Ravin Rodent at the Edge Conference Centre and was told, "No no." Count Binface also said, "No no." when asked about using a picture, adding he would sue if one was taken.
Martin Bell in 1997
The comparison being drawn is to Martin Bell, who stood in Tatton in 1997 against Neil Hamilton. That reference places Count Binface in a familiar protest-candidate lane, while Farage’s return keeps the spotlight on Clacton and the people who now have to choose from a crowded field.
Farage has also said the parliamentary commissioner for standards should not decide whether he had done anything wrong in not declaring a £5m gift from Christopher Harborne and funds from George Cottrell for staffing, security and housing. The immediate reader question is simple: with 34 candidates on the list, which names will actually make the ballot and leave Clacton voters with a final choice?
