A Candidate Named ‘Count Binface’ Is the Most Normal Part of This Pivotal UK Election

Aug 12, 2026 5:01 AM

Clacton's parliamentary race has it all: Nigel Farage, a man dressed as a trash can, a Union Jack bikini, white nationalist conspiracy theories, and 34 candidates on the ballot.

Photo-Illustration: Wired Staff; Getty Images

A man wearing a trash can on his head dances on the beach, silver cape glinting in the sun as he spins beneath a wheel-topped pier, singing “England needs a new hope” from under an enormous helmet. The scene is Clacton-on-Sea, the centre of one of the east of England’s poorest constituencies and home to around 92,000 people and now the focus of international attention over what locals and observers have dubbed a political circus. The video is part of an extremely online campaign by Count Binface, who is running to represent the Essex town in Parliament. In an ignoble first in British electoral history, he is one of 34 candidates on the ballot.

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Reporting from WIRED contributed to this story.