Why Binface vs Farage has turned into Clacton vs ‘ridiculous’ by-election

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Victoria Jones/Shutterstock (17069248d) Nigel Farage poses after voting at Clacton polling station Clacton by-election results, Essex, UK - 13 Aug 2026

Polling day for the Clacton by-election has arrived – and for many locals the outcome cannot come soon enough.

The election, which includes 34 candidates, was called when Reform leader Farage came under fire for an alleged £5 million ‘unconditional gift’ from cryptocurrency mogul Christopher Harbourne.

After resigning in order to trigger the vote, Farage said it would be a ‘people versus the establishment’ fight and let voters in Clacton ‘be the judge of my actions’.

Retired NHS worker Julia Gibson-Cranch, 60, has done just that – and come out in favour of Binface.

She said: ‘The whole reason we pay politicians a reasonable salary is so that they don’t take money from anywhere else, so that they don’t feel the need to take bribes or backhanders from dodgy billionaires.

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‘It seems he [Farage] has no respect for that.

Julia continued: ‘Nigel Farage has represented us in parliament something like 33% of the time. He is completely unable to be an MP. He’s got something like 13 other jobs!

‘I’ve been a manager in the NHS and other charities all my career. If someone turned up 33% of the time then left, I would not be impressed!’

(FILES) London mayoral candidate Count Binface (C) gestures as he arrives to attend the declaration for London's mayor at City Hall in London on May 4, 2024. Politics is often viewed as theatre attracting the wierd and wonderful, and in the UK Count Binface, a man wearing a big rubbish bin over his head, is stealing the show. The self-described "intergalactic space warrior" from the planet Sigma IX takes on hardline anti-immigrant politician Nigel Farage on August 13, 2026 in the Clacton-on-Sea by-election triggered when the Reform UK leader resigned in a shock move, vowing to stand again. (Photo by BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP via Getty Images) / TO GO WITH Britain-politics-vote-Binface,PROFILE

However, June and Alan Seward, 79 and 83, and their son Nick, 57, from Holland-on-Sea, insisted that there’s still a lot of love for Farage in the area.

Alan said: ‘I think his support has been diluted by all these joke candidates like Binface. They’re wasting our time and making a mockery of the election.

‘We just want the election to be over to be honest.’

In Jaywick, officially rated as the most deprived neighbourhood in England, Darren, 51, said: ‘I don’t like any of them really.

‘Nobody would care about us down here if it wasn’t for Nigel being famous, but he’s hardly ever here anyway. So now all these joke candidates are coming down. It’s ridiculous.’

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Original source Why Binface vs Farage has turned into Clacton vs ‘ridiculous’ by-election

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