From Sigma IX to Clacton, Count Binface is ready to be Farage’s intergalactic nemesis

Nigel Farage has long argued that the country should be closed to illegal aliens. Now he is going head-to-head with one as his main rival in next month’s Clacton byelection: Count Binface, the intergalactic space warrior who hails from Sigma IX.

Speaking to The Observer, Binface admitted to knowing little about the seat he seeks to represent. “It sounds nice, it’s got a pier and I do like to be beside the seaside.

“As I say in every constituency I stand in, it’s the greatest place in the entire universe. Just as Makerfield was the greatest place last month, this month I want to make clear there is nowhere greater than Clacton-on-Sea,” he said.

The satirical protest character, played by comedian Jon Harvey, has been challenging leaders of the day since 2017. Back then he was Lord Buckethead but, owing to what he calls “a snafu with Earth copyright” – US film-maker Todd Durham successfully argued he had created the character for a 1984 sci-fi film – he “respawned” as Count Binface.

Wearing his trademark cape and with an upturned bin for a head, he has since stood in at least five elections, including against former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, London mayor Sadiq Khan and, last month, Andy Burnham. When Farage resigned as an MP last week during a hastily arranged press conference he triggered a contest that would, he claimed, pit “the people v the establishment”. It’s unlikely he intended his main opposition to be a self-proclaimed space warrior who has pledged to build “at least one affordable house”.

But with all the main political parties refusing to field candidates, even supportive media outlets such as the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator have branded Farage’s stand-down a “farce”. They have since speculated whether Reform  could survive without him as leader.

Meanwhile, the novelty character is growing in popularity. Count Binface’s odds have shortened from to 7/2 from 5/1 according to bookies William Hill. Exclusive polling carried out by Opinium for The Observer last week found that Farage’s approval rating had fallen to its lowest since entering parliament. “For the first time this parliament, Nigel Farage looks politically vulnerable,” James Crouch, Opinium’s pollster, said.

Back in Westminster, MPs are discussing the prospect of being joined on the green benches by an alien with a bin for a face. The key question: would that breach the dress code? He has been compared to Martin Bell, the broadcaster known as the “man in the white suit”, who ran as an independent in order to oust sleaze-tainted Tory MP Neil Hamilton. Reform, meanwhile, has reportedly diverted activists from the mayoral contest in Greater Manchester to their leader’s Essex patch. Sources said they were totally blindsided by Farage’s decision, after weeks of pressure about undeclared donations. It is thought even some members of the party’s board – intended to set policy direction and sign off key decisions – were in the dark.

Since announcing that he would run, Binface has been deluged with “humans” offering support. Fan-made memes and AI-generated videos of him dancing around Clacton – and space – with celebrities including former England footballer John Barnes, as well as defeating Daleks and a Roman-emperor-styled Farage – have been viewed millions of times on social media. The spectacle has gone global, piquing the interest of journalists in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

Not all the attention is positive. Reform supporters “outed” Binface as “establishment” comedian Harvey, and others have suggested his presence is disrespectful to Clacton residents, who deserve a more serious alternative to Farage.

Offers of financial support from one-time Labour donor Dale Vince have heightened arguments. Binface is hoping to rise above it by sticking to poking fun at the frontrunner. “I am not from this planet,” he said. “I mean no disrespect but I genuinely had to ask who [Vince] was… If he wants to give me five million earth pounds as an unconditional gift for me to do whatever I want with – perhaps buy some Ferraris – I will simply fill in the correct forms. The last thing I would do is take the money and not fill in the correct forms.”

He denied being involved in any “galactic money-laundering” but declined to comment on whether he has received any crypto donations from his home planet.

Binface said he was now “cooking up” policies that might tempt the Clacton electorate but that he hoped existing pledges, including price-capping 99 Flake ice creams at 99p, would be “a winner in a seaside resort”. Although he does not have a position on “illegal aliens” yet, he said “it would be a bit rum of me to have an anti-immigration policy after you guys have shown a nice, warm welcome to me”. In general, he promised to run a positive campaign, although he noted that “novelty politics is a dirty world”.

Binface is acting as a unity candidate of sorts, attracting support from all sides, but toppling Farage on 13 August is by no means a given. The Reform leader won the seat two years ago with 46% of the vote. If he wins, Farage could still face a second byelection in Clacton this year – anticipated by Reform’s political rivals in response to the standards commissioner’s probe into his undeclared £5m gift from Christopher Harborne.

“He has called a referendum on himself, and I do see the irony in that,” Binface said. “But I would save the taxpayer £348,000 – that’s something you could put on a bus.”

Despite the media circus, Binface does not appear to have stratospheric ambitions. “If people feel more aligned with an alien who looks like a bin than they do with Farage, then so be it. I would be honoured to serve the good people of Clacton, but I am doing the same thing I always do,” he said.

In one month, almost to the day, the country will find out whether that is enough to displace Farage.

Photographs by Benjamin Cremel/AFP/Getty Images, Dan Kitwood/Getty Images