Count Binface: 'I'm the Only Fresh Thing on the Menu'

Timing is everything in comedy and, so it seems, in British politics for a perennial joke candidate who wears a garbage can on his head. Count Binface, a self-described intergalactic space warrior, has landed in the center of the UK's political universe ahead of a special election Thursday that was derided as a farce long before the ballot was packed with nearly three dozen candidates—many from the silly end of the spectrum, the AP reports. Binface, who has run against prime ministers past and present, was the first to throw his bucket in the ring when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage abruptly quit Parliament and said he would seek reelection to clear his name over financial allegations.

"Game on, Nige," Binface declared soon after Farage, portraying himself as the victim of a witch hunt, said he would represent the people against the establishment. But when the major political parties denounced Farage's move as a political stunt and boycotted the Clacton-on-Sea election in southeastern England, the trash-talking comedian was launched into prime position as default challenger. He has been on a nonstop media blitz since.

• "I'm the only fresh thing on the menu," Binface told the AP on a day of interviews with reporters from Japan, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. "You're all sick of these politicians, as good as they're trying to be, but you know you need something different, a little bit of secret sauce."
• The jokes have continued nearly nonstop—and not all are coming from the man in the can with a 20-point plan. "If (Farage) wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him," then-Treasury Secretary Rachel Reeves said as she officially accepted Farage's resignation and set the stage for the special election.

• The man behind the mask is a comedian who keeps a lid on his identity. Under Binface's black cape, rubbish bin, and ample body armor is a middle-aged comedian named Jon Harvey trying to keep his cool during a sweaty summer. Harvey is a married father of two who grew up in London and studied the classics at Oxford. He has been a TV writer on the political comedy The Thick of It and the humorous news quiz Have I Got News for You.
• Harvey's turn in politics began almost a decade ago when he blasted to earth from the so-called planet of Sigma IX as Lord Buckethead to run for the House of Commons seat held by then-Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May. She won handily, but Binface rocketed to fame and landed on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. But the use of Buckethead, borrowed from a Star Wars parody, ended in "an unfortunate battle on the planet Copyright." He was reincarnated as Binface to take on Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
• His platform includes price caps for croissants and a plan to punish scofflaw cyclists by making them ride unicycles. He has also promised to "cut your taxes, and raise everyone else's," build one affordable home, and nationalize singer Adele. One item that has raised some eyebrows is a vow to relocate the hand dryer in the men's restroom at the Crown & Treaty pub in Uxbridge to a more sensible location. "Do you want to be using the urinal and have another human blasting your bits with insanely hot air?" he said.
• Binface, if elected, has no interest in dealing with Trump: "He's awful." But he would "love to cement" the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US "with a galactic union."
• His main selling point is that he's not Farage, though he has opted not to directly attack his main opponent. Instead, his platform takes not-so-subtle digs at the populist often pictured with a pint of beer. In reference to the gift Farage did not declare when he was elected, which is the source of a parliamentary investigation, Binface said he would not accept 5-million-pound ($6.7-million) gifts from "crypto billionaires (on Earth)."
• Binface has conceded that he doesn't expect to win, but his share of the vote might be enough to embarrass Farage. A recent poll found that Farage is likely to get around 73% of the vote, with 20% going to Binface, the Guardian reports.