Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has triumphed over a lengthy list of independent and fringe candidates in the Clacton byelection triggered by his July resignation, winning approximately 63% of the share with his 22,239 votes.
The runner-up was satirical candidate Count Binface, who ran on a platform best described, unironically, in the liberal-left Guardian as “Silly Sausage Britain”.
Binface’s promises of capping ice-cream prices at 99 pence, a referendum on whether Pluto should regain its planet status and cutting constituents’ taxes and raising “everyone else’s” won him 9,455 votes, representing just under 27% of the vote share.
His relative success – in that Binface has run in many previous elections and bombed in all of them – has given the establishment the most it could have hoped for out of this election, which was a jolly old chuckle before returning to the tricky problem of how to contain Farage and his party.
The Reform UK leader resigned early last month in an effort to assert his legitimacy among the people who matter, or should matter, most to a sitting member of parliament – his Clacton constituents.
He felt compelled to do so amid an investigation into a £5m ($6.8m) donation from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. A donation Farage stands by the legality of and said on the occasion of his resignation mostly finances his security.
In the hours following Farage’s reelection this morning, the British Parliament’s Standards Commissioner confirmed the resumption of the investigation into Farage’s finances. Leaving many wondering this morning what the point of the whole episode was.
The Establishment Candidate
Farage’s resignation was smugly greeted by all major political parties in the United Kingdom, who quickly lined up to declare that they would not be fielding candidates in an election they suggested they viewed as mere political theater. The subtext being that defeating Farage on his home turf was unlikely in the extreme, and so they would not put themselves forward for the humiliation ritual.
However, just because the “establishment” parties refused to put themselves forward directly in the Clacton byelection does not mean that the establishment did not have a candidate in the race. It did, and Farage was correct to identify him as Count Binface.
Asked about Farage’s characterization of him as the “establishment candidate” in the election coverage, Binface responded: “Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it? Because one of the candidates was a sitting MP, formerly an MEP, architect of Brexit, one of the most significant British politicians of the last 20 years and reputedly, a member of the East India Gentleman’s Club which to this day does not admit women.”
“If that’s not the establishment, I’d like to know what is because I’m a lone-wolf space warrior”, Binface said.
Contrary to existing definitions of the establishment, what best defines its contours is its ruthless adherence to secular liberalism. “Ruthless” in that it is willing to be entirely illiberal in pursuit and defense of what it understands secular liberalism to be: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, underpinned by a Critical Theory worldview that seeks to undermine all it considers to be oppressive. Such as Christianity, the patriarchy, the nuclear family and far, far more.
Viewed through that lens, it is clear why, despite being a politician of many years’ experience and influence, Farage cannot be considered a part of the establishment, while a broad sweep of the political options in Britain, as well as the media, academic and civil institutions can be.
A Threat to DEI-Fueled Secular Liberalism
Farage, despite being a man of his time, represents a threat to DEI-fueled secular liberalism, primarily because of his explicitly Britain-first approach to politics and his opposition to the United Kingdom’s disastrous immigration policy.
It is why a Google search of Nigel Farage’s name reveals only negative and negatively-coded headlines this morning, and it is why Count Binface’s coverage is either positive or positively-coded. It is also why Binface was received so positively in the run-up to the election itself.
The man in the mask was warmly hosted on Britain’s premier political podcast, The Rest is Politics, earlier this month by men that it seems Binface himself would have no problem characterizing as parts of the establishment furniture, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. One Tony Blair’s right-hand communications man and the other a former secretary of state.
Nevertheless, a good, light and flattering time was had by all.
Similarly, recently-ousted Prime Minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer encouraged voters to put their vote “in the Bin”. The disparity in approach to the leading candidates could be illustrated with further examples, but the point is clear.
The Clacton byelection was not the political ploy Farage intended it to be, but nor is it the great joke it is being made out to be this morning. Farage’s support among his people was never in doubt, and that is the crux of the matter. This was widely recognized, and the challenge was turned down.
Instead, the political class and the media decided to turn Clacton into a circus. If you cannot beat him, laugh at him. But the times are serious, and Farage’s steadfast support is a sign of that. Count Binface may have unbelievably provided some people with a chuckle or two, but a significant segment of the British public is in no mood for jokes.
It remains to be seen who will have the last laugh, but just as with American President Donald Trump, the establishment should take away from this episode that it cannot mock its problems away.