This hard-right politician quit parliament for a fight — His only rival dresses as a bin

in brief

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will re-contest his own seat following a financial scandal.

No major party wants to indulge Farage, possibly leaving joke candidate Count Binface his sole comeptitor.

British anti-immigrant politician Nigel Farage faces the embarrassing prospect of going head-to-head with perennial joke candidate Count Binface in a by-election after he decided to quit parliament.

Comedian Jonathan David Harvey, better known as Count Binface, has stood in multiple UK elections wearing his trademark bin-shaped helmet.

Farage's surprise move now threatens to backfire after other heavyweight parties confirmed they would not contest the vote for Farage's seat in southeast England.

Count Binface, a self-described "intergalactic space warrior", is the only other person to have said so far that they would run.

In a televised address on Wednesday, the leader of the hard-right Reform UK party said he was resigning as the member of parliament for Clacton, the constituency he has represented since July 2024.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

The shock announcement came as Farage is the subject of a parliamentary probe over the non-disclosure of a £5 million ($9.65 million) donation from Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

The donation was made shortly before Farage was elected an MP and was revealed earlier this year by The Guardian newspaper, which reported Tuesday that bankers raised concern with the National Crime Agency that it may have been laundered money.

The agency told the Agence France-Presse news agency it would not confirm whether a complaint had been made.

'People versus the establishment by-election'

Farage, whose party leads national opinion polls, also faces scrutiny over separate alleged gifts from George Cottrell, a 32-year-old crypto entrepreneur previously convicted of fraud.

Farage insists he has done nothing wrong and accused opponents in parliament of using sleaze investigations as a "political tool" against him.

The Reform UK leader did, however, discuss cryptocurrencies with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey in September 2025.

In a letter to a Labour MP seen by AFP, Bailey said the bank was regularly subjected to lobbying and "no policy changes have taken place as a result of interventions by Mr Farage".

In showmanship typical of the 62-year-old Brexit campaigner, Farage said he would seek re-election, pitching the vote as a "people versus the establishment by-election" fight.

But his plans appeared in disarray after the ruling Labour party, the main opposition Conservatives, centrist Liberal Democrats, and fringe parties, the left-wing Greens and far-right Restore Britain, announced they would not field candidates in the by-election.

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Farage's move a "desperate stunt" from someone "up to his neck in sleaze", while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded it a "fake by-election" designed to cause a distraction.

Rupert Lowe, who split from Farage last year and formed Restore as an even-further-right alternative that has eaten into Reform's support, called the proposed poll an "unnecessary sham".

'Arguing with a bin'

Binface, who regularly runs in UK elections with his bin-shaped head and long cape, announced on Wednesday that he would put himself forward to take on Farage.

"I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house," he wrote in a post on X on Tuesday, adding: "Leave him [Farage] to me."

The parody candidate won 95 votes, a 0.2 per cent share, when he ran against Britain's likely next prime minister, Andy Burnham, in a by-election in Makerfield near Manchester last month.

His manifesto for that campaign included forcing cyclists who break traffic laws to ride unicycles instead, and capping the cost of a croissant at £1 ($1.93).

At present, a serious independent candidate could still announce a run.

Polling expert John Curtice told the BBC that Farage had been hoping for a "very substantial political circus" but may end up with a "relatively damp squib" if no one challenges him properly.

Farage's decision to step down means the investigation by Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, into the Harborne donation will be temporarily suspended.

The government on Wednesday granted Farage's request to quit and a by-election should take place within 35 days.

"If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him," finance minister Rachel Reeves said on X.

Farage comfortably won Clacton in 2024 with a majority of 8,405 and more than 46 per cent of the vote.

If he is re-elected, the probe would likely resume.

If Farage is found to have breached the rules, he could be suspended from the House of Commons, and another by-election may be triggered.

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.