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The Candidate
The Explainer
9 Jul 2026
Farage wanted a coronation. He got Count Binface.
00:00

Nigel Farage resigned as an MP on Tuesday to trigger a byelection in which he's going to run in, and waited for the establishment to line up against him. They didn't. A handful of minor parties have put their names forward, but the candidate getting all the headlines is Count Binface, an Oxford graduate in a bin costume who has previously stood against Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Theresa May. It would be funny if there wasn't so much riding on it (and even at that... it is still pretty funny).


Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Sinéad O'Carroll dig into why the stunt hasn't gone to plan, why the five million pound "unconditional gift" is following Farage around, and what a Reform UK prime minister would mean for Ireland.