Everything to know about Count Binface, the ‘space warrior’ standing against Nigel Farage

On Tuesday, Nigel Farage announced he was resigning as MP for Clacton in order to force a by-election. However, he’s now facing a rather unique opponent: The one and only, Count Binface.

Count Binface isn’t like other politicians. Instead, he’s an “independent space warrior” who wears a bin over his face. Totally normal… right?

But, if you’re wondering who the real Count Binface is, don’t worry, we do actually know the answer. So here’s everything to know about his true identify, policies and political background.

So who actually is the real Count Binface?

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A post shared by Count Binface (@countbinface)

Count Binface is the satirical political persona of comedian, Jon Harvey.

Dressed in a black and grey uniform, with a long silver cape and a dustbin-shaped helmet, he describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX . and claims to be over 5,900 years old.

He previously stood as a similar character, Lord Buckethead, but was forced to create a new persona after a complaint by Todd Durham, the American filmmaker who owns the Buckethead character.

What’s Count Binface’s electoral history

Count Binface has made a habit of standing against the biggest names in British politics. He stood against Boris Johnson twice, Theresa May in 2017, and most recently Rishi Sunak in the 2024 general election, where he finished sixth out of 13 candidates, with 308 votes.

He also stood in the 2026 Makerfield by-election against Andy Burnham, finishing seventh with 95 votes – a result Keir Starmer later referenced at Prime Minister’s Questions to mock the Conservatives for only narrowly beating him.

He also came eight of 19 in the 2021 London mayoral election and 11 of 13 in the 2024 London mayoral election.

What are Countil Binface’s policies, and where is the manifesto?

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Count Binface’s manifestos are where things get interesting. Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, he confirmed his national policies will remain for Clacton, including: Building at least one affordable house, nationalising Adele, bringing back Ceefax, and moving the hand dryer in the gents’ toilet at the Crown and Treaty pub in Uxbridge to “a more sensible position.”

Previous manifesto highlights from other campaigns include: Conscripting people who play loud music on public transport, making corners in football properly refereed, and for cyclists who break the highway code to ride unicycles instead.

If he receives the required pledges to run, he will then tailor his manifesto to contain Clacton-specific policies. He has said he thinks Clacton will like his policy on adding a 99p price cap on Flake 99s.

Why is Count Binface Nigel Farage’s main rival for MP?

Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton. I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house.

Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment. So be it.

Leave him to me.

— Count Binface (@CountBinface) July 7, 2026

Because every other party has dropped out. Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party have all said they would not field a candidate. Even Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain, founded by one of Reform’s own former MPs, said it would save itself for the second by-election after the standards investigation concludes.

With the field cleared, Binface has positioned himself as the unity candidate. “Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment,” he wrote on social media. “So be it. Leave him to me.”

Defence secretary Dan Jarvis, speaking from a NATO summit in Ankara, also offered his support, saying: “Looks like Count Binface will be sort of stepping forward, and good luck to him.” A cabinet minister wishing a bin-helmeted space warrior luck is not a sentence that would have made sense five years ago.

Could he actually win the Clacton by-election?

Probably not, but nothing is off the cards. Nigel Farage took Clacton in 2024 with 46.2 per cent of the vote and with no major party standing against him, his path back to Westminster looks clear. But for now, Binface’s campaign tweet says it all: “Game on, Nige.”

If you told me five years ago the guy who started UKIP would only be running against a guy who wears a bin on his head for MP, I would have laughed in your face.

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Featured images via Instagram @countbinface and @nigel_farage