Could Ireland benefit from its own Count Binface? |
SOMETIMES THERE’S SIMPLY no choice but to pay attention to what’s happening across the Irish Sea.
Other times, the architect of Brexit and the rise of the far-right in Britain, who’s under investigation for a £5million donation he received from a crypto billionaire, is in a byelection for his own seat, against a man with a bin on his head who calls himself Count Binface, and it would actually be really easy to not pay attention.
And yet, here we are.
In the end, Reform leader Nigel Farage comfortably defeated the Count in Clacton by over 36 percentage points, putting an end to one of the most meaningless distractions in recent history. He was never going to lose, of course, or come anywhere close. In 2024, Farage chose Clacton precisely because its voters have repeatedly proven their sympathy with Farage’s brutish brand of anti-immigrant rhetoric at the ballot box.
Only a few weeks ago, Farage had stepped down from his role as MP for the same constituency in part to delay the investigation into his finances, and the charade resulted in all the major UK political parties refusing to contest the foregone conclusion. Enter Binface, real name Jonathan David Harley, a serial joke candidate who has now contested seven different elections in character.
As the author of a column that occasionally takes at least some pleasure in the absurdities of modern social and political life, one might imagine that I get a kick out of Count Binface. One would be mistaken. The humour behind Binface is some kind of cross between Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks (spare me) crossed with a knock-off Doctor Who villain. It could only ever gain purchase amongst a population that’s still patting itself on the back and slapping its own knee over the time they voted to name that boat ‘Boaty McBoatface’. Unsophisticated.
Nevertheless, Binface did pick up over a quarter of the votes against Farage, and in fairness to him,........