Clacton-on-Sea, UK - Voters in the eastern England constituency of Clacton-on-Sea are heading to the polls on Thursday to choose between UK far-right leader Nigel Farage or Count Binface, a man in a literal bin costume.

Facing a parliamentary standards investigation over an undeclared $6.5 million donation from a crypto billionaire, Clacton-on-Sea MP Nigel Farage called a defiant by-election on July 7, 2026.

The move was a pitched effort to avoid facing the inquiry and instead put the issue to the people of Clacton. He framed the election as "the people of Clacton versus the Establishment," but things quickly went wrong.

None of the major parties agreed to participate in the political stunt, leaving Farage on his lonesome, staring down the barrel of an election in which the only major candidate opposing him is a man dressed in a bin costume.

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Count Binface, an intergalactic space warrior who describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons (from the planet Sigma IX), is running on a manifesto defined by numerous bizarre – and humorous – pledges for the UK.

"I will cut your taxes, and raise everyone else's," Binface declared in his viral manifesto, released on July 27. "I pledge to build at least one affordable house."

"The hand-dryer in the gents' toilet at the Great Himalayas restaurant, Southport, to be moved to a more sensible position."

Farage, meanwhile, is leader of the UK's far-right Reform party, defined by an extreme anti-immigration platform and a love for President Donald Trump.

"Britain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

He is likely to retain the east-England seat. Having reentered parliament, however, he will be weakened by a farcical and expensive election campaign and will still face a standards investigation.