Count Binface is a satirical novelty candidate created by the British comedian Jonathan David Harvey[2] in 2018.[3] He stood as a candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the 2019 United Kingdom general election against the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, and again at the 2023 by-election that followed Johnson's resignation. He also stood in the London Mayoral elections in 2021 and 2024.[4] In the 2024 general election Binface stood against the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in his Richmond and Northallerton constituency.
| Count Binface | |
|---|---|
 Count Binface at the Glee Club, Birmingham, in 2024 | |
| First appearance | 12 December 2018[1] |
| Portrayed by | Jonathan David Harvey (since 2018) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Recyclon |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Leader of the Recyclons |
| Origin | Sigma IX |
In earlier elections, Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead,[5] but was forced to change the character due to a copyright dispute with the American filmmaker Todd Durham, who created Lord Buckethead for his 1984 science fiction film Hyperspace.[6][7] Since then Harvey has used the platform of Binface to promote electoral participation, with the slogan, "Make Your Vote Count".
Originally standing as an independent, since 2023 his affiliation has been given as Count Binface Party on ballot papers.[8]
Character
editCount Binface is an "independent space warrior"[9] in a black and grey uniform, with a long silver cape and a helmet shaped somewhat like a dustbin with a glowing strip where his eyes would be. He describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX,[10] and claims to be over 5,900 years old.[11]
2019 general election policies
editBinface announced a series of satirical policies for the 2019 general election, including:
- Bringing back Ceefax, the teletext service.[9] He had previously promised to bring back the service in 2017 as Lord Buckethead.[12]
- Returning 20,001 police officers to the street, a reference to the Conservative pledge of 20,000 more police officers.[13]
- Nationalising model railways.[14]
- Holding a referendum on holding a second referendum on the United Kingdom's membership in the European Union.[14]
- Allowing any Czechs on the Irish border to remain,[14] a reference to the Brexit and the Irish border controversy.
- Nationalising Adele, the English singer.[15]
- Abolishing the House of Lords.[15] He had previously pledged the same in 2017 as Lord Buckethead.[16]
- Giving free broadband to everyone.[15]
- Stopping the sale of arms to repressive regimes.[15]
- Making Piers Morgan zero emissions by 2030.[15]
- Renaming London Bridge to "Phoebe Waller-Bridge".[15]
- Introducing a minimum voting age of 16 and a maximum of 80.[15]
- Sending £1 trillion a week to the NHS.[14]
- Proroguing Jacob Rees-Mogg.[14]
- Banishing Katie Hopkins to the Phantom Zone.[14]
- Moving the hand dryer in the men's toilet at Uxbridge's Crown and Treaty pub to a "more sensible position".[14]
In 2019, another individual contested the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat as Lord Buckethead, representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, to which Binface said he "look[s] forward to both the hustings and to challenging [him] to take part in a receptacle-to-receptacle debate".[17]
2021 London mayoral election
editBinface announced his intention to stand for the London Mayoral Election, which was originally scheduled for 2020, but was delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced a suite of 21 policies which "marries fiscal responsibility, social awareness, and not being an anti-vaccine nutjob", including:
- Finish Crossrail.[18]
- Free parking for electric vehicles between Vine Street and the Strand,[18] in reference to where the Free Parking space is located on the British Monopoly game board.
- London to join the European Union.[18]
- Renaming London Bridge to "Phoebe Waller-Bridge" and Hammersmith Bridge to "Wayne Bridge".[18]
- All government ministers' pay, including that of the mayors, should be tied to that of nurses for the next 100 years.[19]
- Loud snacks to be banned from theatres.[20]
- The use of the speakerphone function on mobile phones to be banned in public. Any offenders caught will be forced to watch the film version of Cats every day for a year.[21]
Binface started a fundraiser to raise £10,000, the amount necessary to allow him to stand for Mayor of London. The excess money was donated to the charity Shelter to help combat homelessness.[18] He finished ninth with 24,775 votes in the mayoral election.[22]
2024 London mayoral election
editIn March 2024, Binface started another fundraiser to allow him to stand in the next London mayoral election, which was held on 2 May 2024. Any funds raised in excess of the necessary £10,000 would again be donated to charity.[23] After gaining the required amount, he announced his entry into the race[4] and released his manifesto,[24] which re-used many policies from previous years but added a few new ones.
The Binface manifesto called for the abolition of VAR[25] (presumably in football matches) and promised to force Thames Water managers to "take a dip in the Thames... see how they like it", in reference to the recent sewage discharge controversy; also to "build at least one affordable house", referring to the housing crisis in London.[26]
He finished in 11th place with 24,260 votes, notably, ahead of Britain First, despite the election's change to a First Past the Post voting system. [27] Incumbent mayor and election winner Sadiq Khan in a victory speech remarked about celebrating "becoming the first person in British political history to win successive victories over Count Binface".[28] He added that Binface finishing ahead of the far-right Britain First candidate was "another reason to love London".[29]
2024 general election
editOn 7 June 2024, Binface announced his intention to stand as a candidate in the 2024 general election, contesting the Richmond and Northallerton constituency against the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Binface said that he was "taking on the biggest fish of the lot" in the election and commented; "You shirked D-Day Rishi, you can't miss the B-Day", a reference to the controversy caused by Sunak's early departure from the ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.[30] Amongst new policies announced in Binface's manifesto was a "space bridge" to solve the traffic problems caused by Northallerton's level crossings and reducing the price of 99 Flake ice creams to 99 pence.[31] He also proposed National Service for former prime ministers and inviting European nations to join the United Kingdom.[32]
Binface enlisted the mathematician and YouTuber Matt Parker to create charts for his free election pamphlet and to act as an election observer on behalf of the Count Binface Party.[33] The Daily Star endorsed both Binface and the Labour Party.[34]
Binface finished sixth of thirteen candidates with 308 votes, representing 0.6% of all the votes cast.[35] He commented on Twitter that it was his best placing and highest ever vote count in a national election and declared that "Bindependence Day has come".[32]
Electoral history
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Boris Johnson | 25,351 | 52.6 | +1.8 | |
| Labour | Ali Milani | 18,141 | 37.6 | −2.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Joanne Humphreys | 3,026 | 6.3 | +2.3 | |
| Green | Mark Keir | 1,090 | 2.3 | +0.4 | |
| UKIP | Geoffrey Courtenay | 283 | 0.6 | −2.8 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Lord Buckethead | 125 | 0.3 | N/A | |
| Independent | Count Binface | 69 | 0.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Alfie Utting | 44 | 0.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Yace Yogenstein | 23 | 0.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | Norma Burke | 22 | 0.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | Bobby Elmo Smith | 8 | 0.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | William Tobin | 5 | 0.0 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 48,174 | 68.5 | +1.7 | ||
| Mayor of London election 6 May 2021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round | ||||
| Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | ||||
| Labour | Sadiq Khan | 1,013,721 | 40.0% | 192,313 | 1,206,034 | 55.2% |
| |
| Conservative | Shaun Bailey | 893,051 | 35.3% | 84,550 | 977,601 | 44.8% |
| |
| Green | Siân Berry | 197,976 | 7.8% |
| ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Luisa Porritt | 111,716 | 4.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Niko Omilana | 49,628 | 2.0% |
| ||||
| Reclaim | Laurence Fox | 47,634 | 1.9% |
| ||||
| London Real | Brian Rose | 31,111 | 1.2% |
| ||||
| Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison | 28,012 | 1.1% |
| ||||
| Count Binface | Count Binface | 24,775 | 1.0% |
| ||||
| Women's Equality | Mandu Reid | 21,182 | 0.8% |
| ||||
| Let London Live | Piers Corbyn | 20,604 | 0.8% |
| ||||
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson | 16,826 | 0.7% |
| ||||
| UKIP | Peter Gammons | 14,393 | 0.6% |
| ||||
| Independent | Farah London | 11,869 | 0.5% |
| ||||
| Heritage | David Kurten | 11,025 | 0.4% |
| ||||
| Independent | Nims Obunge | 9,682 | 0.4% |
| ||||
| SDP | Steve Kelleher | 8,764 | 0.3% |
| ||||
| Renew | Kam Balayev | 7,774 | 0.3% |
| ||||
| Independent | Max Fosh | 6,309 | 0.2% |
| ||||
| Burning Pink | Valerie Brown | 5,305 | 0.2% |
| ||||
| Labour hold | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Steve Tuckwell | 13,965 | 45.2 | −7.4 | |
| Labour | Danny Beales | 13,470 | 43.6 | +6.0 | |
| Green | Sarah Green | 893 | 2.9 | +0.7 | |
| Reclaim | Laurence Fox | 714 | 2.3 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Blaise Baquiche | 526 | 1.7 | −4.6 | |
| SDP | Steve Gardner | 248 | 0.8 | New | |
| Independent | Kingsley Hamilton Anti-Ulez[a] | 208 | 0.7 | New | |
| Count Binface | Count Binface | 190 | 0.6 | +0.5 | |
| Independent | No-Ulez Leo Phaure[a] | 186 | 0.6 | New | |
| Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison | 105 | 0.3 | New | |
| Let London Live | Piers Corbyn | 101 | 0.3 | New | |
| Independent | Cameron Bell | 91 | 0.3 | New | |
| CPA | Enomfon Ntefon | 78 | 0.3 | New | |
| UKIP | Rebecca Jane | 61 | 0.2 | −0.4 | |
| Climate | Ed Gemmell | 49 | 0.2 | New | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Howling Laud Hope | 32 | 0.1 | −0.2 | |
| Independent | 77 Joseph[b] | 8 | 0.0 | New | |
| Majority | 495 | 1.6 | −13.4 | ||
| Turnout | 31,000 | 46.23 |  17.3
| ||
| Registered electors | |||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −6.7 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Sadiq Khan | 1,088,225 | 43.8 | ||
| Conservative | Susan Hall | 812,397 | 32.7 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Rob Blackie | 145,184 | 5.8 | ||
| Green | Zoë Garbett | 145,114 | 5.8 | ||
| Reform UK | Howard Cox | 78,865 | 3.2 | ||
| Independent | Natalie Campbell | 47,815 | 1.9 | ||
| SDP | Amy Gallagher | 34,449 | 1.4 | ||
| Animal Welfare | Femy Amin | 29,280 | 1.2 | ||
| Independent | Andreas Michli | 26,121 | 1.1 | ||
| Independent | Tarun Ghulati | 24,702 | 1.0 | ||
| Count Binface | Count Binface | 24,260 | 1.0 | ||
| Britain First | Nick Scanlon | 20,519 | 0.8 | ||
| London Real | Brian Rose | 7,501 | 0.3 | ||
| Majority | 275,828 | 11.1 | |||
| Turnout | 2,484,432 | 40.50 | 1.5
| ||
| Registered electors | 6,162,428 | ||||
| Labour hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Rishi Sunak | 23,059 | 47.5 | −15.8 | |
| Labour | Tom Wilson | 10,874 | 22.4 | 6.0 | |
| Reform UK | Lee Taylor | 7,142 | 14.7 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Daniel Callaghan | 4,322 | 8.9 | −3.6 | |
| Green | Kevin Foster | 2,058 | 4.2 | 0.4 | |
| Count Binface Party | Count Binface | 308 | 0.6 | New | |
| Independent | Brian Richmond | 222 | 0.5 | New | |
| Independent | Niko Omilana | 160 | 0.3 | New | |
| Yorkshire | Rio Goldhammer | 132 | 0.3 | −1.8 | |
| Monster Raving Loony | Sir Archibald Stanton | 99 | 0.2 | New | |
| Workers Party | Louise Dickens | 90 | 0.2 | New | |
| Independent | Angie Campion | 33 | 0.1 | New | |
| Independent | Jason Barnett | 27 | 0.1 | New | |
| Majority | 12,185 | ||||
| Turnout | 73,888 | 66 | −5.6 | ||
Notes
edit- ^ a b Names "Anti-Ulez"[39] and "No-Ulez"[40] indicate opposition to London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
- ^ Otherwise known as Thomas Faithful Darwood, his ballot name alludes to Pharaoh's dream interpreted by Joseph in the Book of Genesis.[41]
Books
edit- Binface, Count (2022). What On Earth?: An alien's guide to fixing Britain. London: Quercus Editions Ltd. ISBN 978-1529421651.
See also
edit- List of frivolous political parties
- Perennial candidate
- Vermin Supreme, an American satirical candidate.
References
edit- ^ "Former Lord Buckethead takes aim at rival candidate who took his name as he bids to unseat Boris Johnson". Independent.co.uk. 15 November 2019.
- ^ "New MPs elected at July by-elections". parliament.uk. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Cockburn, Harry (15 November 2019). "Former Lord Buckethead takes aim at rival candidate who took his name as he bids to unseat Boris Johnson". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Count Binface (@CountBinface@mastodon.world)". Mastodon. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Count Binface (12 March 2021). Hip To Be Mayor!. Retrieved 12 July 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Waterson, Jim (26 May 2019). "Double trouble: the fight to be the real Lord Buckethead". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
'People should know it's not the same person,' said comedian Jon Harvey, confirming for the first time that he was the man in the plastic mask during the 2017 general election. 'It's being run by an American from Beverly Hills.'
- ^ "Comedian Jon Harvey to take on Boris Johnson as Count Binface". comedy.co.uk. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
'Harvey previously took on Theresa May as Lord Buckethead, but has changed the character after an American-lead copyright dispute'
- ^ "Count Binface". whocanivotefor.co.uk. Democracy Club Community Interest Company. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ a b Morrison, Sean (14 November 2019). "Man behind Lord Buckethead to run in PM constituency under new alias". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ Graham, Freya (1 May 2024). "London mayoral election: Who is 'intergalactic space warrior' Count Binface?". Metro. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ "Johnson rival Binface makes bid for Christmas number one". Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Heritage, Stuart (8 June 2017). "The 2017 election awards: from best eating of a Pringle to biggest dolt". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Johnson rival Binface makes bid for Christmas number one". South West Londoner. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g "MANIFESTO!". www.countbinface.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sharma, Ruchira (6 December 2019). "Count Binface lost the rights to Lord Buckethead, but he's still fighting the PM". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Delahunty, Stephen (6 June 2017). "Alternative Maidenhead candidates go head-to-head at hustings". Maidenhead Advertiser. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- ^ Jamieson, Alastair (17 November 2019). "Boris versus Binface: The barmy battles in Britain's 'Brexit election'". euronews. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Count Binface Runs for Mayor of London". YouTube. Count Binface. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "London 2021 Manifesto". Count Binface. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ^ "Here is my full manifesto for London. Can any other candidate beat this? No chance! #VoteBinface #MakeYourVoteCount". Twitter. @CountBinface. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Count Binface meets Owen Jones". Youtube. Owen Jones. 29 April 2021.
- ^ "Results 2021". London Elects. 9 May 2021. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "It's time to take out the trash and teach the Tories a lesson they'll never forget. Help me raise the £10k to get on the London Mayoral ballot, and watch me beat Susan Hall! Every extra penny raised goes to charity. Join me here!
#Budget2024". Twitter. @CountBinface. 6 March 2024. - ^ "Count Binface (@CountBinface@mastodon.world)". Mastodon. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Count Binface (@CountBinface@mastodon.world)". Mastodon. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ Keane, Daniel (8 April 2024). "Count Binface unveils manifesto for London Mayoral election including Thames Water pledge". www.standard.co.uk. Evening Standard Limited. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "London Mayor Election 2024 Candidates and Results". BBC News. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Sadiq Khan celebrates 'successive victories over Count Binface'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ "Sadiq Khan salutes Count Binface for beating Britain First candidate in London mayoral election". news.sky.com. Sky UK. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ Abruzzese, Phoebe (7 June 2024). "Count Binface to stand against Rishi Sunak in Richmond". www.thenorthernecho.co.uk. The Northern Echo / Newsquest Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ Nichol, Joshua (17 June 2024). "Count Binface launches Richmond and Northallerton manifesto". www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk. Newsquest Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ a b Cotrell, Hannah (5 July 2024). "How Count Binface, Captain Beany, Elmo and other quirky candidates did in the election". www.independent.co.uk. Independent Digital News and Media Limited. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Parker, Matt (3 July 2024). "UK Election charts are a nightmare". www.youtube.com. Stand-up Maths. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ Dominic Ponsford; Charlotte Tobitt; Bron Maher (4 July 2024). "General election 2024 endorsements: Most of Fleet Street votes Labour". Press Gazette. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
- ^ "Richmond and Northallerton results – General election 2024". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Uxbridge & Ruislip South parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ Rufo, Yasmin (23 June 2023). "Uxbridge by-election full candidate list revealed". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election 2023 results". Hillingdon Council. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "Candidate Kingsley Hamilton". Getty Images. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Candidate Leo Phaure". Getty Images. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Joseph77". Joseph77. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "London Mayor election results". BBC News. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Richmond and Northallerton results". BBC. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.