Voters cast their ballots Thursday in a local English election pitting Brexit backer Nigel Farage against a collection of independents, jokers and single-issue candidates, including a comedian dressed as a dustbin, in a test of opposition to the Reform UK leader's brand of populist politics.
Voters in the eastern town of Clacton head to the polls Thursday for a by-election triggered by hard-right Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, but amid a boycott by mainstream parties his main rival is a joke candidate called Count Binface.
Polling stations open at 7:00am (0600 GMT) with a total of 34 candidates in the running, forcing Farage to face off against dozens of fringe candidates, including Binface.
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Brexit backer Farage – whose anti-immigration Reform UK won local elections in May and topped national polls for 18 months from early last year – has remained defiant.
He has framed the by-election as "the people of Clacton versus the Establishment", branding newspaper probes and official investigations into his finances and questionable donations to his anti-immigration party as a "stitch-up".
"Britain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election," he said in a statement late Wednesday.
Farage is widely expected to retain the eastern Essex seat, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, and political analysts have downplayed the vote's wider significance.
"It seems unlikely that the by-election will be consequential for British politics," University of Southampton political science professor Will Jennings told AFP.
"Victory won't mean that questions about Farage or Reform's finances will go away, so it seems most likely it will be a wasted summer for everyone," he added.
"When Farage returns to parliament afterwards we will be back where we started."
'Rather silly'
Polls will close at 10:00pm, with counting beginning immediately and a result expected by around 7:00am Friday.
Turnout – nearly 59 percent in the 2024 general election – could be significantly down given the lack of traditional candidates from ruling centre-left Labour and the centre-right Conservatives.
Farage netted 46 percent of the vote two years ago to become an MP on his eighth attempt, securing a majority of 8,405. But comparisons may be complicated by the boycotts.
Most of the candidates – the highest number of any parliamentary election – are standing as independents, and have led to a ballot paper which is nearly a metre long.
Joke candidate Count Binface, who dresses with a grey dustbin over his head wearing a cape and silver armour, has captured global media attention and could snatch a fifth of the votes, according to a Survation poll.
The self-styled "intergalactic space warrior" is part of a long British tradition of satirical election contenders, which appears to have reached its zenith in Clacton, where the Official Monster Raving Loony Party will also field three candidates.
"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".
'Misjudgement'
Journalist Michael Crick, who wrote a 2022 biography of the Reform leader, agrees.
"This has been a complete misjudgement by Farage," he told The Daily Telegraph. "He's hoping to become prime minister and Clacton is in no way representative of the country as a whole."
Farage shocked Westminster and beyond when he announced his resignation as Clacton MP – and intention to re-stand for the role – on July 7 following intense scrutiny of his and Reform's finances.
The parliamentary sleaze watchdog is investigating Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, amid allegations they failed to declare financial gifts -- including in Farage's case a £5 million ($6.7 million) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.
They deny any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, London police have confirmed starting an investigation last year into donations to Reform before the 2024 general election.
UK media have reported it relates to non-declared financial support from longtime Farage ally and convicted fraudster George Cottrell and his mother.
The controversies have coincided with a drop in Reform polling support and in popularity for Farage, long a divisive figure loved and loathed in largely equal measure.
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Luke Tryl, who heads the More in Common research non-profit, told AFP Farage's core supporters "seem largely undeterred" but that newer Reform converts "might now be wavering".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
