Polls open in crunch Clacton contest between Reform's Nigel Farage and Count Binface
Voters are heading to the polls on Thursday in the seaside town of Claton, on England's east coast, to vote in one of the most unusual by-elections in recent British history.
The two main candidates are Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, which was until recently dominating in the national polls, and Count Binface, a man dressed as a bin.
Farage was elected MP for Clacton in 2024 but resigned last month in order to trigger the by-election.
Farage's decision to stand was a response to a controversy over finances. A parliamentary investigation had been launched into a gift of £5m ($6.74m), which Farage had received from Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne and did not disclose.
The investigation was suspended when Farage resigned on 7 July but is expected to resume if he re-enters parliament.
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Farage has repeatedly insisted the gift, received before he was elected MP, was not linked to his political career.
"Let me be absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong," he said when he resigned. "I have decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions."
The next day Farage added: "The media are judging me to be a dishonest person, so it is only fair to say to the voters, 'you judge'."
But all the main political parties decided to boycott the by-election, with Labour branding it a "political stunt".
This means that Farage's main rival is Count Binface, a joke candidate who regularly stands in high-profile by-elections around the country.
Binface's campaign promises to build "at least one affordable house", "nationalise" the singer Adele and "cut your taxes and raise everyone else's".
Three candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party are also standing, as well as numerous independents and far-right activist Laurence Fox, representing the Reclaim Party, which he leads.
In total there are 34 candidates standing. Farage is expected to win by a landslide, but he may face derision if Binface receives more than 5 percent of the vote, which would be highly unusual for a joke candidate.
Reform had been leading the national polls for over a year until Andy Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as prime minister last month.
Since then, Labour has enjoyed a bounce in the polls and Reform's leader has been seen as being on the back foot.
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