Clacton by-election Count Binface has set out his manifesto in the battle for votes against Nigel Farage – saying Wayne Rooney should be a Eurovision pundit and pledging not to accept £5m gifts from crypto tycoons
Count Binface has set out his long-awaited Clacton ‘manifesto’ – with a pledge not to accept large sums of money from any crypto billionaires.
Nigel Farage’s adversary also wants Wayne Rooney to be an expert summariser for the BBC at the Eurovision Song Contest. It comes after the football hero dismissed the World Cup half time show as ‘crap’ during a live broadcast earlier this month, winning praise for his bluntness.
And the parody candidate also said MPs who resign mid-Parliament should be barred from the resulting by-election. If brought in, this would bar the Reform UK chief from standing in the contest, which has been dismissed as a ‘circus’ by his rivals.
Binface, who has previously stood against Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Andy Burnham, vowed: “I will not accept £5million gifts from crypto billionaires (on Earth).” Mr Farage attempted to paint the by-election as a “people versus the establishment” contest when he triggered the surprise race.
At the time he was being investigated by Parliament’s standards commissioner over a £5million gift he accepted from Thailand-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne. That investigation is expected to resume if Mr Farage returns to Parliament after the August 13 by-election.
Parliamentary rules state that donations and gifts in the 12 months before becoming an MP should be declared. But Mr Farage insists it was a personal gift with no strings attached. He has faced questions after Reform put forward plans to slash capital gains tax on crypto transactions.
Elsewhere Binface, real name Jonathan Harvey, proposed capping bus fares at £1.99 – a week after the government announced a £2 cap outside London. He also called for the cost of 99 Flake ice creams to be capped at 99p.
Other ideas include a windfall tax on “cosy crime novels” written by celebrities, filling potholes with the Labour Party Manifesto and making arcade grabber games fairer “so players actually have a chance to win”.
And he put himself forward as the UK’s Eurovision representative in 2027, with the 2027 competition to be held in Clacton. Binface stressed he sticks by previous pledges, including bringing back Ceefax, nationalising singer Adele and renaming HS2 as FFS2.
Mr Farage’s opponents have criticised him for getting himself locked in a contest with a bin and 32 other candidates. After he announced he was stepping down to contest the by-election, former Chancellor Rachel Reeves poked fun of him.
Ms Reeves, who said she would not block the contest – expected to cost taxpayers between £250,000 and £300,000 -said earlier this month: “It is a farce and a desperate distraction, and the people of Clacton deserve better.
“But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him.” The credibility of the contest was dealt a blow when a candidate who dresses as a fox dropped out, saying it had got too silly.
Rob Pownall, who has stood as a Protect the Wild candidate in previous by-elections, wrote: “Being lumped in on a stage alongside a lineup of people treating this as a punchline isn’t the platform we set out to find, and I don’t think it’s the one that best serves the animals we’re trying to protect.”
Damning polling seen by The Mirror revealed 52% of voters think Mr Farage decided to fight a by-election in Clacton to divert attention away from the standards probe. Just a quarter do not believe he is trying to avoid scrutiny, campaign group 38 Degrees found in a poll with Survation.
Even among current Reform voters, a third think Mr Farage is attempting to swerve questions about his finances. Veronica Hawking, Campaigns Director at 38 Degrees, said: “The British public don’t suffer fools gladly. They see this by-election for what it is: an attempt by Nigel Farage to avoid scrutiny and accountability that all our politicians should be held to. Farage says he represents the people but not many people get £5m gifts from billionaire friends. It’s time to clean up politics for good.”