What to Know About Today’s U.K. Special Election: Farage vs. Binface

What to Know About Today’s U.K. Special Election: Farage vs. Binface - The New York Times

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What to Know About Today’s U.K. Special Election: Farage vs. Binface

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/world/europe/farage-binface-uk-byelection-clacton.html

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What to Know About Today’s U.K. Special Election: Farage vs. Binface

Nigel Farage, the right-wing populist leader, forced a by-election in his parliamentary seat of Clacton after he came under pressure over his financial declarations.

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Nigel Farage Quit to Force a New Election. Now, He Faces Count Binface.

*Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform U.K., will face Count Binface, a novelty candidate, in Thursday’s special election that he forced after coming under pressure over his finances.

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Joe Giddens/Press Association, via Associated Press*

By

Michael D. Shear

Reporting from London

Aug. 13, 2026

Updated 4:04 a.m. ET

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Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform U.K., Britain’s populist right-wing party, will face voters on Thursday in a special election that he initiated, hoping to return to Parliament weeks after resigning amid investigations into possible financial impropriety.

Mr. Farage, who is under investigation for failing to declare a 5 million pound gift (about $6.7 million) from a British crypto-billionaire in Thailand, has said he hopes that a new mandate from his constituents in Clacton, a coastal area in Essex, England, will show that his voters do not care about the issue.

He said that he has been the subject of “constant demonization” by the press and his critics. The investigations into his finances, he claims, are proof that the “establishment have now decided that they can’t beat us fairly, so they’ve chosen to use foul means.”

After he resigned to force the new special election, all of Britain’s major parties boycotted it, calling it a stunt. Mr. Farage’s most significant opponent is a novelty candidate named Count Binface, who campaigns wearing a trash can over his head.

Here’s what to know about Thursday’s vote.

Who is Mr. Farage and what does he believe in?

As the leader of Reform U.K., Mr. Farage is the most prominent right-wing populist in Britain, focused on campaigning against immigration and in favor of lower taxes and fewer regulations, particularly on cryptocurrency.

A veteran politician who campaigned for more than two decades for Britain to leave the European Union, and who has led several parties, Mr. Farage is an ally of President Trump and has styled himself in a similar way. He has long warned of an “invasion” of migrants and railed against the establishment in Westminster.

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