LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of voters are heading to the polls Thursday in a special election in a small seaside resort just outside London that will pit a potential candidate to be the next U.K. prime minister against a collection of independents, jokers and single-issue candidates, led by a man who wears a trash can on his head.
That's not what Nigel Farage, the man who arguably did more than anyone to get Britain to vote to leave the European
Union a decade ago, intended when he triggered Thursday’s special election in Clacton by quitting his seat in the House of Commons last month. When doing so, he expected to run again against candidates from Britain's main political parties, including the governing Labour Party and the main opposition Conservative Party.
Farage, who is the leader of anti-immigration party Reform UK, stood down in the hope the election could put to bed awkward questions about his finances. Farage said he would let voters judge him in a “people versus the establishment” contest. His political foes described the move as a stunt and opted against standing a candidate.
Instead, Farage's main opponent is Count Binface, a political satirist posing as a comic space alien, with a keen interest in earthly matters, including the positioning of a hand dryer in the men's toilet in a pub in west London.
The special election is a novelty, if not quite a circus, with a record 34 candidates standing, including Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party. They have pounded the streets of Clacton over the past few weeks as they seek to win the support of around 80,000 voters.
Given the numbers standing, Clacton residents will be presented with a ballot paper that is around 3 feet long (around 1 meter). That's not going to be easy to navigate.
Turnout is widely expected to be low for a variety of reasons. For one, turnout is usually lower at special elections rather than at general elections. In the July 2024 general election, Farage faced eight rivals and garnered 21,225 votes, or 46.2% of the total. Turnout was 58.7%.
This election is taking place in the midst of the summer holidays when thousands of voters will be far away from Clacton. It's also taking place during another U.K. heatwave, which could prompt many to opt against making the trip to the polling station as they seek sanctuary from temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
Farage, who in 2024 was elected to Parliament at his eighth attempt in the strongly Brexit -backing town, has for months been facing what he considers to be unfair scrutiny of his finances.
Parliament’s standards watchdog is investigating an undeclared donation of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) to Farage in 2024 from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Farage says he didn’t need to declare the money because it was a personal gift he used to fund his security and came before he was elected.
Newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) received in the previous year if they are related to political activities.
When he stood down on July 7, he described the scrutiny as an “establishment hit job” and a media-driven “witch-hunt.”
His decision to stand down put a pause to the parliamentary investigation, but if he wins on Thursday, as most pollsters expect, it is set to start up again.
If he's found to have breached Parliament's rules, then he could face a recall petition in Clacton, which may lead to another special election later this year, costing the British taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds more. The difference is that in that one, the other parties would choose to stand.
Farage's decision to trigger another election in Clacton came weeks after Andy Burnham returned to Parliament in a special election in the Makerfield constituency near Manchester. That campaign shone a positive spotlight on Burnham, triggering a chain of events that saw him become Britain's prime minister a few weeks later following the resignation of Keir Starmer.
Any hope that Farage had that the Clacton campaign would be similarly positive for him was dashed when the other political parties failed to play ball and he was left standing against the likes of Count Binface.
Under Binface’s black cape, trash can and ample body armor that looks straight out of a low-budget sci-fi film, is a middle-aged comedian named Jon Harvey trying to keep his cool during a sweaty summer.
He has been a regular candidate in high-profile elections before, having previously stood against then prime ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
He says his repeated candidacies are aimed at promoting the beauties of Britain's centuries-old democracy where even the most high-profile politicians are above no one — including someone from his fictional native planet of Sigma IX.
He's also funny.
The numbers backing him have been negligible — and fairly costly. Candidates standing for election have to put down a deposit of 500 pounds ($675). They only get it back if they muster 5% of the votes cast. In his most recent run, against Burnham in Makerfield, the comedian received 95 votes, or 0.2% of the total.
There is an expectation that he will do a lot better in Clacton. Many of the voters of the other political parties have been lending him their support, partly in the hope of embarrassing Farage.
The result of the election, which will be announced as Farage is onstage with all his fellow candidates, is expected Friday morning between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.
