‘Count Binface’ Is Most Normal Part of Pivotal UK Election

Wired: “A man wearing a trash can on his head dances on the beach, silver cape glinting in the sun as he spins beneath a wheel-topped pier, singing ‘England needs a new hope’ from under an enormous helmet. The scene is Clacton-on-Sea, the centre of one of the east of England’s poorest constituencies and home to around 92,000 people and now the focus of international attention over what locals and observers have dubbed a political circus. The video is part of an extremely online campaign by Count Binface, who is running to represent the Essex town in Parliament. In an ignoble first in British electoral history, he is one of 34 candidates on the ballot.”

“One of Britain’s most high-profile and perennial candidates, Binface has stood in six previous elections across England over the past decade (UK politicians do not have to live in a constituency in order to represent it in parliament). This Thursday, he faces Clacton incumbent Nigel Farage—leader of the right-wing anti-immigration party Reform UK and a friend of Donald Trump—in a by-election triggered by the latter’s resignation amidst allegations that he and his party accepted and failed to declare financial support, including a £5 million gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency tycoon.”