Farage and Count Binface go head-to-head in snap UK poll

Counting started Thursday in an English by-election pitting hard-right leader Nigel Farage against a joke candidate named Count Binface in a vote dismissed by some residents as a "farce".

Farage, who triggered the vote by resigning the parliamentary seat he had held since 2024 over an investigation into his finances, is up against Binface and dozens of other fringe candidates in the Clacton constituency of eastern Essex.

The vote has been shunned by Britain's main political parties, including the ruling Labour, as a stunt by the Reform UK leader -- once touted as a potential prime minister -- to dodge scrutiny of his dealings.

That has left candidates such as Binface -- the alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey -- to grab the attention.

Analysts predict a win for Farage -- but they also predict an uncomfortably large share of up to 20 percent of the votes going to the self-styled "intergalactic space warrior" who wears a rubbish bin on his head.

"Bin day cometh," Binface posted on X on Thursday, while enthusiasm for voting in the coastal town of Clacton-on-Sea remained muted.

Two other joke candidates for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party were spotted having a drink on a pub terrace, while Count Binface did not appear in the town on voting day.

"It's a farce," said local voter Paul, in his 50s, who accused mainstream parties of "disrespecting the people of Clacton" by not running candidates.

Just a few "I'm with Farage" signs were visible in Clacton, and plenty of other locals -- even some volunteers for the anti-immigration Reform party -- branded the polls a joke.

"It's a bit ridiculous," party campaigner Jane Embelton told AFP.

"It's all to make Nigel Farage look like an idiot, basically. But he doesn't look like an idiot to me or his supporters."

A record 33 fringe candidates, including Binface, stood in the vote. At one polling station, a sample ballot paper with the lengthy list of contenders hanging at the entrance was taller than most voters.

Counting began after polling stations closed at 10:00 pm (2100 GMT), with a result expected by Friday morning.

Farage, whose party had topped national polls for 18 months before falling behind recently, surprised voters with his July 7 resignation amid the probe into his finances.

The investigation by the parliamentary sleaze watchdog is examining allegations he and Reform's deputy leader, Richard Tice, failed to declare financial gifts. They deny any wrongdoing.

Farage has framed Thursday's vote as "the people of Clacton versus the Establishment", aimed at thwarting the "stitch-up" over his finances.

"The people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions," he said in a video released before casting his vote.

Clacton voter Phil predicted the vote was "not going to change anything", noting if Farage won as expected, the parliamentary probe would restart.

Political pundits have downplayed the vote's wider significance in a constituency that overwhelmingly backed Brexit a decade ago.

"It will be astonishing if Farage were not to win," political scientist John Curtice told AFP.

But some assessed Farage's election gambit had backfired as his Reform party slips down national polls.

"Farage's plan to turn this by-election into a serious political battle failed," Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP, noting the resulting spectacle "makes Farage look rather silly".

Farage netted 46 percent of the vote in the 2024 general election to become an MP on his eighth attempt.

Turnout -- nearly 59 percent then. But it was expected to be be down to around 43 percent of the constituency's 80,000 registered voters, given the lack of mainstream candidates, according to provisional figures announced just after polls closed.

The probe into Farage, which paused when he resigned, relates to a five million pound ($6.7 million) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Meanwhile, London police have confirmed starting a investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 election.

UK media have reported that probe concerns undeclared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.

The controversies have coincided with the drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.