In the town square in Clacton, in the blazing midday sunshine, some of the candidates for the upcoming byelection made their pitch to a scattering of potential voters, passing Deliveroo drivers and a giant gull.
But as the independent candidate Attieh Fard shouted into a megaphone that she would be a voice for Clacton, a passing youth shouted: “Where’s Binface?”
At one of the hustings being held before polling day on 13 August, the two main contenders in the election, Nigel Farage and Count Binface, were conspicuous by their absence.
Fard, a former Tory; and a fellow independent candidate, Andy Erlam, will be holding hustings at midday in the town centre of the Essex town every day until voting day. But Farage and the Count have failed to respond to the invitation.
The byelection has been regarded as somewhat of a joke by the main political parties, the media, and the novelty bin candidate, after Farage triggered it amid mounting pressure over his finances. Rather than wanting the parliamentary authorities to adjudicate whether he should have declared a £5m gift from a crypto billionaire prior to being elected, Farage resigned his seat in parliament and asked the people of Clacton to decide.
All the large political parties thus decided not to stand, hoping the public would see the ridiculousness of Farage spending the summer, as Rachel Reeves put it, having an argument with a bin.
New polling by Survation for Mandate Research suggests Farage would win 73% of the vote on a low turnout, but that 20% would vote for Jonathan Harvey, the comedian who pretends to be a space lord named Count Binface and who wears a bin as a helmet.
But Fard, a smartly dressed lawyer, said: “Clacton voters need a serious person to vote for.”
“Our democratic system should not be made into a joke or used in this way, this election should be about the people of Clacton,” she added.
She said she was disappointed there had been no hustings arranged by the council or other local groups.
“There has been nothing arranged; it’s been up to the candidates to organise hustings,” she said, “Farage should have shown up. I’m less surprised by Count Binface, whose campaign has been very much virtual and he said he wouldn’t show up in Clacton in person. But if either of them showed up we would probably have had a bigger audience for our hustings, so it is a shame.”
One 62-year-old spectator, Roy Andrews, seemed convinced by Fard’s campaign. “I didn’t vote last time but she’s got my vote. She seems like a very nice lady. I’m not about to vote for a bin,” he told the Guardian.
Farage had a clash in his schedule: he was busy in London announcing a policy to use warships to send people attempting to cross the Channel back to France.
Fard said: “Our hustings tomorrow is the immigration themed one. So if he wants to tell the people of Clacton his views on this, he should attend.”
Erlam, who was formerly an adviser to a Labour cabinet minister, told the small crowd that the anti-Farage vote should not be given to a bin. “Westminster is a jungle, and you don’t want a comedian to represent you.”
On the Reform UK leader’s failure to attend, he said: “Nigel Farage and his team have not responded, it remains to be seen whether he will appear alongside the rest of the candidates as an equal.”
Farage has kept somewhat of a low profile since he fired the starting gun on the campaign. Monday was his first national press conference since May, and he has not appeared keen to debate with Binface or the other 32 candidates.
Erlam was less impressed to be asked about Binface. “He is completely irrelevant,” he said. “The joke has run out. Only six candidates have bothered to put a leaflet in the post, they are who need to come to the hustings.”
Despite the lack of presence from the two frontrunners, and the seeming apathy gripping most of the residents of Clacton, the hustings will continue to be held every day. “We will be here to answer questions from the people of Clacton every day. It is up to Nigel Farage if he decides to find the courtesy to respond to our invitation,” said Erlam.
But on a sunny August day, the people of Clacton seemed more interested in the sandy beach, the amusement arcade and the rides on the pier than listening to what their would-be MPs had to say.
Count Binface told the Guardian that the invitation had been lost in his inbox.
He said: “I’m very sorry to have disappointed the candidates who took part, and I’m even sorrier to have disappointed any constituents who came to listen. If I’d known about the event, and if I couldn’t have made it, I would have at least sent through a written statement as I have done at previous elections.
“I did visit the constituency last week and really enjoyed meeting local residents in Clacton and Frinton, and I’m hoping to be able to do more in the days ahead. I can certainly say already that the people and the area are fantastic, and whoever wins the byelection, they deserve a devoted MP.”
Reform UK was contacted for comment.
